TV stars dance the night away at hospice benefit
Hospice of Texarkana held its sixth annual Jeans & Bling benefit Saturday night at Texarkana Convention Center, with food, fun, dancing and participation from two professional ballroom dancers featured on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
Door prizes, silent auctions and raffles were also a popular part of the benefit.
“The focus of our event is to help funding for the in-patient hospice facility, currently under construction at Galleria Oaks,” said Cindy Marsh, executive director of Hospice of Texarkana.
“Everyone is so excited to see Jonathan Roberts and Chelsie Hightower from ‘Dancing With the Stars,’” she added.
Hightower and Roberts are wellknown for their roles as professional choreographers who have paired off with celebrities to help them compete in the ABC show. Hightower has been paired with such notable celebrities as singer Michael Bolton, race-car driver Helio Castroneves and singer/actor Romeo Miller. Celebrities partnered with Roberts on the show include entertainer Marie Osmond; entrepreneur Heather Mills, ex-wife of former Beatles star Paul McCartney; and singer Macy Gray.
A raffle for three items was put on, with tickets selling for $20 each. Items up for grabs in the raffle were four Dallas Cowboys football tickets, a custom-built fire pit and a week’s stay at a large Panama City condominium.
Flower pots and gift certificates were donated by several local eateries and businesses for the event’s silent auction.
Art pieces for the silent auction included “Orange Calla,” an oil painting of a lily by Mary Jane Orr, and a watercolor piece by Danny Helms called “The Post Office.” Both works were framed by Christopher’s Framing Gallery, which, along with local dentist Dr. Neil W. Carmony, donated gift certificates for their services.
As a nod to Jeans & Bling’s “Dancing With the Stars” guests, Hospice of Texarkana put on a benefit game called Icing With the Stars in which five local celebrities were paired with five local bakeries to decorate cakes that would then be served to guests.
Local eateries that contributed were Julie’s Deli, Silver Spoon, Taste and See, Twisted Fork Grill & Bar and All in Good Taste Bakery. Those chosen to help decorate and ice cakes with the professionals were Jo Ann Rice, Dr. Robin Rogers, Fred Norton Jr., Taryn Ashley and Trish Reed.
Guests of the event were to “vote with dollars” to determine which local celebrity and bakery would be declared the winners just before the cakes would be cut and served to guests of the benefit.
Dancing, drinks and hot, catered food kept guests and contributors entertained before the main-event-performances by Hightower and Roberts.
“We had a great turnout tonight at our signature event, Jeans & Bling and really hope everyone enjoys themselves,” Marsh said.
So far, about 40 percent of construction on the Galleria Oaks in-patient hospice facility has been completed, according to Marsh, who said Hospice of Texarkana hopes to see construction completed by the end of April 2016.