Local “Dancing with the Stars” gets schooled for next installment of annual fundraiser
Almost everything has changed about Mohawk Presents Calhoun’s Dancing with the Stars but it’s still going to be the show of the year when it hits the GEM Theatre stage for three performances on May 11, 12 and 13. The fundraiser will move forward as “Mohawk Presents Calhoun’s Dancing with the Stars Gets Schooled!”
A planning committee, led by GEM Theatre Manager Kim Brazell and United Way of Gordon County Executive Director Vickie Spence, has been working over the past few months to redefine the fundraiser. Those committee members include Andy Baxter with Andy Baxter Photography, Renee Brown with Mohawk Industries, Kristy Brown with Greater Community Bank, Jon Gaines with Hi-Gain Audio, Ashley Goble with United Way, Michelle Knight with Calhoun City Schools, Bill Long with Calhoun City Schools and Debbie Mixon with Gordon County Schools.
“With five tremendously successful shows under our belt, this year we began to realize that we had tapped our volunteer resources and understood that it was time to refresh the fundraiser,” explained Spence. “As we considered our options, we saw that we were overlooking the world’s greatest resource: our kids. So we turned where everybody should turn when they need to learn something new and we went to school.”
This year, each public high school will hold its own DWTS event by the end of January. The top three teams from each of the three public high schools in Calhoun-Gordon County will become the nine teams competing in the main event. Each high school will also select and send its own emcee. Those three emcees will control the stage and represent their schools as they replace Joni Harbin.
“Mohawk Presents Calhoun’s Dancing with the Stars has been an unbelievable experience for this community and for me personally,” explains Harbin. “I always will be proud of my involvement with the show and grateful for the legendary accomplishments all of the dancers made as they entertained CalhounGordon County and shattered fundraising records year after year after year. Now, it’s time to give the kids a chance and I have the very highest expectations for the 2017 show.”
The show will create some important opportunities for the high school students, as each dancer and emcee will receive a college scholarship. The dancers will work together before show time to present one group fundraiser. Corporate support will remain a major element of the fundraising efforts managed by Brazell and Spence.
As details unfold and plans are finalized, additional information will be made available. Before the show, there will be meetings with the planning committee, dancers and emcees, school officials and parents to define responsibilities and deadlines. Tickets are expected to go on sale in February.
As always, Andy Baxter will provide photography for the dance teams as they promote themselves in the community. Kim Brazell will be responsible for the event program and Jon Gaines will take care of light and sound in the theatre during the shows. Bill Long will coordinate video work using students from all three schools.
To date, the fundraiser has channeled nearly $800,000 into the community, benefiting the GEM Theatre as well as the eighteen member agencies of United Way of Gordon County. All profits remain in Gordon County.