Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
Well-known individuals from three area communities will show off their best dance moves at a new charity dancing competition in Eatonia early in November.
Ballroom Blitz will feature seven local celebrities and their dance partners competing at the Eatonia Community Hall on Nov. 4. They could win a grand prize of $5,000, to be donated to a charity of their choice.
The doors open at 7 p.m. and the dancing starts at 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.
The event is sold out but the general public can support participants by online voting. Visit www.ballroomblitzeatonia.myevent.com for information and to cast votes for the participants.
Kim Becker, a spokesperson for the event, said she had an idea to do a Dancing with the Stars style event about two years ago but the idea didn’t take off. When she became a member of the Eatonia Centennial Committee, she shared the idea with the chairperson, Lindsay Larock.
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Larock, a dance instructor in the area, and Becker worked out details and recruited dancers before taking the idea to the committee.
Becker said remaining proceeds from the event will go to support the centennial committee and the town’s celebration in 2020, and each of the participants has chosen a charity for the $5,000 prize if they to win the voting.
Becker and Larock recruited dance instructors and people with formal training in dance.
The committee was eager to support the idea, the spokesperson explained.
“When we had (the dancers) on board, we went back to the full centennial committee and they also became excited about it,” she said, adding that the event has received great community support. “We decided it was something we could move forward with.”
The seven contestants are from three area communities, and their dance partners are from four communities. The contestants are Geri Golightly, Mitch Larock and Sam Somerville from Eatonia, Rick Miller and Curtis Sackville from Kindersley, and Darcy Morrice and Devery Sweitzer from Eston.
Their dance partners are Jennifer Bews and Lindsay Larock of Eatonia, Sage Barclay-Rosher, Clayton Braybrook and Richelle Ortman of Kindersley, Janelle Oliphant of Eston, and Skye Stimson of Leader.
The pairings for the event are Golightly and Braybrook, Mitch and Stimson, Somerville and Lindsay, Miller and Barclay-Rosher, Sackville and Ortman, Morrice and Bews, and Sweitzer and Oliphant.
Becker said the voting will take place before and after the event. Online, people donate money to the contestants and $1 equals one vote.
There will also be a panel of four judges at the competition. The $5,000 prize will go to the contestant who earns the most votes online and at the event in a people’s choice category, and the winner of the judged category will win bragging rights.
Contestants have had several months to prepare with their partners, Becker said.
The contestants have been gathering footage of their training sessions for a video to be shown at the event.
Eatonia’s Kylan Wagner, a dancer who attends the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, is also going to perform, along with a swing band from Saskatoon.
Becker said organizers announced the sale of tickets starting one night at 7 p.m. and the tickets were gone before they knew it.
“Within 10 minutes of seven o’clock, we were completely sold out,” she added, noting that people jumped at the opportunity to support the contestants and the fundraiser. “It went over really well. We were super excited about the interest in it.”
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© Kindersley Clarion
