Dancing with the Local Stars!

The United Ways that serve Lake and Porter Counties will be the recipient charities for the 2010 ‘Dancing with the Local Stars’ contest featuring 7 local amateurs who will be competing and performing publicly to raise money for the organizations’ 2009-10 campaigns. dancing-with-local-stars

The fun-filled, friendly competition will be held 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 25 at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville. Tickets for the ‘Dancing with the Local Stars’ are $20 for adults and $10 for youth 17 or under and are good for all events that day from 3 to 11p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or through either United Way and by sending a check to: Indiana Challenge, 7911 Austin Avenue, Schererville, Indiana 46375.The United Way of Porter County can be reached at 464-3583.

The amateur performers include Kim Bleck, Robert Corns, Jim Fitzer, Brooke Hall, Becky Mateja Lombardini, Kelly Nissan, and James Tudor. All are Northwest Indiana residents and represent a wide variety of professions and ages.

“This year, the amateur dancers include a steel executive, dentist, small business owner and a fitness instructor among others,” said Tim Bourget, co-owner of the Second Street Dance Studio in Schererville and one of the organizers of the event.

The competitors have spent the last 8-10 weeks learning two routines taught to them by a local dance instructor who will also be their dance partner that evening. The dance instructors donated their time to make sure each amateur dancer is ready.

The instructors who volunteered their time to make this event possible include: Aaron Coberg and Beth Nelson of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Merrillville; April Rodriquez and John Nilsson of the Premiere Dance Studio also in Merrillville; and Keith Clinton and Lonnie Kamensky of the Gotta Dance Studio in Schererville.