The 6th Annual Dancing with Our Stars event drew a large audience to the Fort Scott Community College Ellis Family Fine Arts Center Saturday evening as 10 couples danced in an effort to raise funding for charities and organizations they selected to represent and support.
The Marriage Boot Camp Edition, and the largest fundraiser for the Rotary each year, featured couples of a range of ages who showed off the results of months of practicing, including waltzing, two-stepping, jiving, twisting, ballet, flipping, cart-wheeling and even jump-roping during their two-minute routines.
After each dance, judges Dave and Jara Martin and Bob and Jamie Beckham commented on what they enjoyed about that dance while emcees Tim and Deb Mckenney then introduced the next dancers and their chosen causes.
During the intermission, members of the audience voted for their favorite dancers by putting dollars into bowls located at booths set up by the dancers in order to share information on their respective causes.
Causes this year included Relay for Life, Circles of Hope NICU Foundation, Court Appointed Special Advocate, the Alzheimer’s Association, Lee’s Paws and Claws Animal Shelter, the Sharing Bucket, 4-H, Friends of the Fort and the Tom W. Davis Memorial Fund.
Gary and Kylene Palmer, dancing for Lee’s Paws and Claws Animal Shelter, raised the most money at $4,349 and received the Charity of Giving Award. Nate and Bailey Lyons raised $2,753 for the NICU Foundation for second place, Wayne and Dee Young and Friends of the Fort received third place with $2,298, and Justin and Hannah Simpson raised $2,294 for Relay for Life for fourth place.
The total amount raised reached $16,937.
Gary and Kylene Palmer also received an award for the most technical performance, Heather Davis and Grant Hartman the most spirited award and Amanda and Lane Gray the judge’s choice award.
Other dancers included Steve and Susan Cole, David and Tina Lipe, Chad and Jayci Cosens and Abby and Trenton Stepps.
