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Shrewsbury, Terry win third annual Dancing With the Putnam County Stars
For photo highlights of the night, visit http://www.bannergraphic.com/gallery/7239/.
After Bobby Hopper and Colleen Muir quickstepped away with the evening's first perfect score, it looked like the duo would be tough to beat in Saturday evening's Dancing With the Putnam County Stars competition.
That's when a couple of nerds shuffled onto the floor, looking lost and out of place. Five minutes, three songs and a wardrobe change later, Charlene Shrewsbury and David Terry had the crowd on its feet in an ovation and the competition's judges wishing for bigger scores to hand out.
"I don't know what to do about the scoring because we can't go higher than 10, can we?" Judge Diana "Carrie Ann" LaViolette asked.
Shrewsbury and Terry electrified the DePauw Indoor Tennis and Track Center with the only hip-hop routine of the night's 11 dances. The unique choice made them stand out, but their energetic, perfectly synchronized routine really set them apart.
Of course, Shrewsbury and Terry weren't the only impressive dancers of the night. Hopper and Muir, along with Mary Anne Birt and Brad Sandy, also collected perfect scores. The lowest score on the night was an impressive 26. The judges took note.
"This year has probably been, of the last three years, the toughest," Denny "Bruno" Bridges said following the final dance.
With the three perfect scores, though, the judges returned to their scorecards and notes, choosing Shrewsbury and Terry -- also the crowd consensus -- as the 2011 champions.
"I was very nervous the whole time," Shrewsbury said. "Everybody had some wonderful dances. They were gorgeous. It wasn't a sure thing for anybody."
"Everybody has such a good routines, so you never know," Terry added.
It took some time for the duo to really get clicking as partners. Shrewsbury is a DePauw safety officer, while Terry is a senior at the university.
"Two or three weeks into it we started to feel comfortable with each other. With him being a student and me being an officer, we kind of had to cross that bridge, and we did," Shrewsbury said.
Shrewsbury said her apprehension when practice started faded away.
"I was one of the ones who was a little hesitant to do it. The main reason I did was that it was for the Putnam County Youth Development Commission, but once I got into it, it became fun and I'm glad I did it," she said.
Terry has been a part of each of the three Dancing With the Putnam County Stars events, but may not be back next year once he graduates.
"It's a great experience," he said. "It's for such a good cause and it's a lot of fun. I always enjoy coming here and I'm going to miss it."
The night kicked off with an ensemble number, featuring all the stars and pros, as well as stars from previous years.
Tara Gardner of Dance Workshop choreographed the opening number, "I've Had the Time of My Life," a fitting emotion for dancers who put in so much time and effort.
"Emotionally, after we did our opening number performance, everybody wanted to do it again," Gardner said. "They were just fired up and they wanted to do it again."
Jeramy Sheldon and Ashley Clute -- a couple on the dance floor and off -- kicked the competition off with a sailor-themed swing. Mary Miller and Kyle Booher followed with a sultry tango. A waltz from Natalie Pritchard and Sandy was next.
"We had a lot of fun, but I told him, 'Brad, you're probably not going to win with me,'" Pritchard said with a laugh.
The heat then really turned up on the competition with the perfect scores from Hopper and Muir, then Shrewsbury and Terry.
As great as the dance moves were, a big part of the energy of the routine from Hopper and Muir came from his ever-present smile. Between his roles at Lifebuilder Community Church, McDonald's and various civic organizations, Hopper always seems to smile.
"I've got to wonder if you sleep sometimes," Headley said. "He's got that same smile on his face every time you go in there (to McDonald's)."
Ron Spencer and Katie Wallace closed the first half of the competition with a rumba.
Cindy Hennette and Logan Kuhne brought the program back from intermission with a waltz, followed by a Michael Jackson-inspired jazz routine from Brad Hayes and Jessyca South.
In probably the widest age gap of the evening, 62-year-old Steve Michael danced to "Disco Inferno" with 18-year-old Aisa Terry. For all the years Michael has spent on stage playing guitar, Bridges said he'd never seen Michael in exactly this light.
"I've never seen you do anything quite like that," Bridges said.
"You never will again," Michael said in response.
Birt and Sandy performed a quickstep to capture the evening's third perfect score. While Sandy's three dances in one night -- including the opener -- would be too much for most, it's just half the story.
The Cloverdale Elementary teacher also directed a recent Cloverdale High School production and was set to audition for a play on Sunday.
"I just squeeze it in at the end of the day," Sandy said. "We've rehearsed on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon -- wherever we can grab an extra hour or two."
Auctioneer Jeff Rich and Gardner closed the evening with a tip of the Stetson to Rich's profession with a country two-step to John Michael Montgomery's "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)."
In addition to the dancing win by Shrewsbury and Terry, Birt was the top fundraiser. The big winner, though, was the PCYDC, with the most successful night in the event's three-year history.
"I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of so many people in our community -- how they embrace this event each year and how the attendance keeps growing," PCYDC Executive Director Linda Merkel said. "People truly love something where people step outside their box and sacrifice their time, energy and commitment to do something they've never done before, and also for a great cause by helping us raise money for the youth of our community."
She said with funding cuts from the state and federal level in recent years, Dancing With the Putnam County Stars has helped PCYDC continue to provide service to its clients free of charge.
"We are a not-for-profit agency that provides interventions and initiatives for the most at-risk youth in Putnam County," Merkel said. "Most of the kids we see are already in the juvenile justice system and are facing high probation costs and court costs, and we just couldn't do that to our families."
Merkel said people are already looking toward next year's competition.
"You can't imagine the number of people that have already stopped me saying that they want to participate next year," she said.
For photo highlights of the night, visit http://www.bannergraphic.com/gallery/7239/.