‘Dancing’ event to raise money for women, girls

by Dennis Dalman

editor@thenewsleaders.com

Six local people, including three Sartell residents, will dance for their favorite charities when “Dancing with our Stars” takes place from 5-8 p.m. Monday, June 20 on the outdoor terrace of the Stearns History Museum in St. Cloud.

The event, which costs $85 per person, will include a social hour, dinner and dance competition.

The three Sartell residents are AnnElise Bergstrom, Luke Riordan and Jon Ruis. The others are St. Cloud residents Erin Bitzan, Steve Letnes and Melinda Saunders.

The event is sponsored by the Women’s Fund, which is one of the initiative programs of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation. Each dancer will be paired with a professional dancing partner, and each couple will then dance for a charity of the guest dancer’s choice. All of the charities are ones that help women and girls improve their lives in one way or another, such as Clara’s House and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Three expert judges will judge the dancing, and 40 percent of the score will be based on the actual dancing, while 60 percent is determined by how much each dancer raised for his or her favorite charity online, in person and on the night of the event.

The winner will get $15,000 to give to the charity of choice. Second place is $10,000, third place is $5,000 and dancers in fourth through sixth place will each receive $1,000 each for their charities.

To vote for your favorite dancer and/or charity, go to: communitygiving.org/wfp.

In an interview with the Newsleader, Courtney Schmidt said Jeff Ringer of StudioJeff dance school in St. Cloud suggested the charity dance competition as an annual fundraiser for the Women’s Fund because he was aware other places had done it. The Women’s Fund committee liked the suggestion immediately and began the process of choosing locally-involved people to be contestants. The six they chose readily agreed to dance.

The line-up of the dance contestants, their businesses, their charities and dance partners for “Dancing with our Stars” is as follows:

• AnnElise Bergstrom of First United Methodist Church. Charity: Quiet Oaks Hospice. She will dance with Matt Boettcher.
• Erin Bitzan of D.J. Bitzan Jewelers. Charity: Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. She will dance with Paul Cotton.
• Steve Letnes of Letnes Restaurant Group. Charity: Clara’s House. He will dance with Nancy Streng.
• Luke Riordan of DAYTA Marketing. Charity: Big Brothers Big Sisters. He will dance with Lisa Saari.
• Jon Ruis of United Way of Central Minnesota. Charity: Imagination Library. He will dance with Nicole Miller.
• Melinda Sanders of Quinlivan and Hughes. Charity: Anna Marie’s Alliance. She will dance with Gustavo Pena.

For more information about Dancing with our Stars, call 320-253-4380.