Creekmore wins 2016 Dancing with the Putnam County Stars, Legan top fundraiser

Sunday, April 24, 2016
Logan Kuhne and Allison Creekmore

With feet tapping and crowds cheering, two contestants thanked their lucky stars Saturday as they walked away from the Putnam County Fairgrounds indoor arena.

Drawing copious envy, Putnam County's 2016 Dancing with the Stars participants Logan Kuhne and Allison Creekmore took home the title of champion after a routine described by many as "unorthodox."

With a hauntingly painted face and realistic straight-jacket, respectively, Kuhne and Creekmore's performance was intended to represent the demented thoughts and emotions within Creekmore's mind (metaphorically speaking) as the pair presented eerie smiles to a crowd nearly 700 strong.

"We had way too many songs picked out, but we narrowed it down through days of back-and-forth, texting with, 'Are you feeling it?' and, 'No, I'm not really feeling it,'" Creekmore said after the show amongst a flurry of congratulatory remarks. "We played through and danced through some things when, finally, 'Monster' by Eminem and Rihanna came up and we decided to run with that.

"We thought 'this is really different' and 'this isn't something they're used to,' but we thought we'd try it and see what happens," Creekmore added.

Kuhne, who has been a dance instructor for six of the previous seven competitions, said he was proud to make it seven-of-eight in 2016 as he further explained the idea behind the decision.

Allison Creekmore (right) and Logan Kuhne complete their winning dance.

"When we heard the song, we thought, 'What if (Creekmore) is crazy, and I'm the monster?' -- the 'voices in her head and the monsters under the bed' -- then we thought, 'What if we could find a straight-jacket?'" Kuhne said, citing the support of the Putnam County Playhouse. "The choreography actually came pretty easily after that.

"First I teach my partners how to dance -- I taught her how to tango and how to cha-cha," Kuhne continued. "And then we take those moves and we put together a routine."

More importantly, the event also succeeded in its purpose to raise money for the Youth Development Commission (YDC) -- the parent organization of the eighth-annual event.

Linda Merkel, executive director of the YDC, was described by several of the event's official staffers as single-handedly putting on one of the biggest happenings of the year.

With exact numbers of fundraising efforts unknown at the time of publication, Merkel explained to the Banner Graphic that the commission received much more in the way of funds than it had originally anticipated.

"Despite changing venues multiple times over the years, our attendance has continued to increase," Merkel said. "The community has really embraced the idea and it's become a social event.

"It's amazing how competitive everyone becomes, but it's even more amazing how everyone remains focused on why we're really here -- to raise money for the struggling youth of our community," Merkel continued. "We're all just so grateful for the community, the volunteers and others who bring the entire county together for one night for something that we all believe in."

Although Dancing with the Putnam County Stars has been staged at four different locations, Merkel went on to say that the efforts of those involved were no less in 2016 than in years previous.

"Every year we are so blessed to have such great instructors, and I've said over and over again that, if it was for Tara Gardner (owner of the Greencastle Dance Workshop) to make sure everyone was prepared, we could never have done this."

Gardner, who was a contestant alongside North Putnam Middle School social studies teacher and coach Bucky Kramer, said her partner made her job easy Saturday.

"He also made having fun easy," Gardner said. "I didn't know that he was involved with other 'dancing with the stars' events in other counties."

Kramer and Gardner arguably stole the show Saturday, performing a hip-hop routine. With the support of family, friends and students, the duo nearly broke the dance floor.

"I have some of (Merkel's) grand-kids in class, and my wife has as well at North Putnam," Kramer said. "Anything we could do to help her out, we will -- anytime.

"She's incredible, Putnam County is lucky to have her here."

Phyllis Legan

Other winners declared Saturday were Fundraiser Extraordinaire Phyllis Legan who raised more than $7,500 through professional interactions at her family's farm. Fellow contestants Tony Detro ($6,420) and Linda Hunter ($5,385) came in second and third places, respectively.

Participants in this year's Dancing with the Putnam County Stars and they're respective dance-types were: Liza Cheatham and David Roberts, fox trot; Niki St. Pierre and Josh Bain, free-style hip-hop; Linda Hunter and Brad Sandy, quick-step; Troy Greenlee and Kristi Glotzbach, hip-hop; Detro and Katie Wallace, salsa; Jake Martin and Ashley Clute, salsa and tango; Don Owen and Sarah Bond, jive; and Josh Bain and Brooke Trissel, lyrical.

Judges for Saturday's fundraising competition were attorney Michael Goss, attorney Eddie Felling and former Greencastle mayor Sue Murray. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Jeff Rich.

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