Dancing with Stars brings in $77,000
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on April 12, 2011 1:46 PM
By all accounts, Dancing Stars of Wayne County was a huge success.
Judges' scores and both online and in-person votes the night of the March 26 event were all tallied, with Tyler Barwick, president of Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce, declared winner of the dance competition.
But the ultimate beneficiary was the cause for which all proceeds had been raised -- education in Wayne County.
"We have totaled all receipts, however we have not subtracted all expenses as we are waiting on some bills, but the gross total was $76,995," said Dr. Debbie Grady, chairperson of the event.
"This event was successful because we had the right people doing the right thing for the right reasons -- to benefit all of Wayne County students."
Her vision, she said, was to continue the event annually to keep funding Wayne Education Network projects, which include scholarships for college, the Junior Leadership program, career program for middle school, teacher retention activities and teacher recruitment efforts and classroom mini-grants.
"All students in Wayne County -- public schools, private schools and home-schools -- will benefit from this successful fundraiser," Ms. Grady said..
Top Hat Studio, its owners, Dr. Charles and Melissa Zwerling, along with instructors Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hooker and Patti Troy were credited with donating time and talents to instruct students, choreograph routines and produce the show.
The 26 participants, along with their partners, also lent their names to the event and elicited votes for the fundraiser.
And then there was the community, Ms. Grady said.
"I would like to thank the public for voting and buying tickets to attend and just talking the event up, which encouraged ticket sales. Hopefully we will be able to provide additional information soon on how the funds are being used for education projects under the Wayne Education Network. ...
"I look forward to beginning work on next year's event which will be tweaked a little to make (it) even stronger. Both guests who purchased tickets as well as the stars and dancers have been invited to compete surveys so that we can improve the event and make it even more enjoyable than this year's event."