Local celebs taking to the dance floor for a good cause

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Twelve Putnam County Celebrities will take to the dance floor Saturday as part of the inaugural Dancing With the Putnam County Stars, a fundraiser for the Putnam County Youth Development Commission. The event will closely resemble "Dancing With the Stars," the popular ABC television show.

The local stars have been working for weeks with professional dance partners. Here is a closer look at four of the competitors.

Jana Brothers

Brothers is a teacher at North Putnam Middle School. She also works as an Avon representative.

She and her husband Bill are the parents of two sons, Landon and Cameron. She is a member of Roachdale Christian Church and serves on the Roachdale Library Board. In her spare time, Brothers enjoys cleaning, organizing, "Goodwilling" and reading.

Brothers has had dance experience in the form of high school cheerleading and dance routines, three months of modern dance classes at Ball State University and a semester of ballet at DePauw.

Brothers decided to participate in Dancing With the Stars for a few different reasons.

"I agreed because there was the enticement of free dance lessons and the fact that my dear friend Gail Smith might also consent to this endeavor," Brothers said. "I hope to learn how to really dance, develop new friendships and to help Putnam County's most precious possessions -- kids!" Beau Battin

Battin is the development director of ResCare Residential. He and his wife Dawn are the parents of a daughter, Eva.

Battin's hobbies are spending time with family, playing golf and softball and bicycling.

He serves on the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, is the treasurer for Mental Health America Putnam County, belongs to the Greencastle Kiwanis club, is a committee member for the Association of Children and Family Services and is a member of the Indiana Correctional Association.

"The programs supported by the PCYDC are an important resource for the youth in our community," Battin said. "I have seen firsthand the positive influence these programs can have. Potentially embarrassing myself is a small price to pay for the benefit of these programs." Stacey Baugh

Baugh is the assistant principal at Cloverdale High School. She and her husband Jason have four children, Kyle, Kristen, Kole and Kade.

Baugh's hobbies are reading, listening to music, walking, spending time with her family and participating in various sports activities. She is a member of Cloverdale United Methodist Church and serves on the Putnam County Teen Court Advisory Board.

Baugh said it was PCYDC executive director Linda Merkel's "gentle persuasion" that convinced her to join the Dancing With the Stars roster.

She was also interested in taking part in the event because it allowed her to contribute to a philanthropic outreach and have "continued involvement in the PCYDC."

She also wants "The opportunity to showcase my awesome dance skills ... of course, I also want the trophy!" Rick Alexander

Alexander is the human resources manager for Wal-Mart Distribution. He is married and has two children.

In his spare time, he enjoys officiating basketball games, playing golf and gardening.

Alexander is a board member for the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce and is active in the United Way of Putnam County. His only dance experience, he said, is "in the garage."

He hopes to help raise a lot of money for the children of Putnam County by participating in Dancing With the Stars. In addition, he said, he hopes to gain "lasting friendships and the satisfaction of knowing I could really do it."

Dancing With the Putnam County Stars will take place at Dixie Chopper Business Center from 6 to 9 p.m. The evening will begin with a social hour, buffet dinner, silent auction, 50-50 raffle and cash bar. The dancing competition will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Other competitors for the title will be local restaurant owner Gail Smith; Tammy Amor, executive director of the Greater Greencastle Chamber of Commerce; Elaine Peck, executive director of the Putnam County Community Foundation; local attorney and public defender James Ensley; South Putnam Schools counselor Mark Wildman; former DePauw football coach Nick Mourouzis; Greencastle Mayor Sue Murray and Greencastle Middle School techer Mike Van Rensselaer.

Each contestant has been paired with a local dance professional to perform a simple routine that will last a maximum of two minutes. The dancer who gets the most points -- a combination of money raised before and during the event and the judges' scores -- will be the Dancing with the Putnam County Stars champion.

The event will be judged by actual Putnam County court judges Diana LaViolette, Matt Headley and Denny Bridges. Emcees will be Jinsie Bingham and Eric Bernsee. Deejays will be Fig's Folly's and Sounds Unlimited.

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  • Sounds like a blast, sign me up!

    -- Posted by 1stamendrights on Sat, Apr 4, 2009, at 9:50 AM
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