By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
A crew from the City of Washington’s Fire-Rescue-EMS will be incorporating tools of the trade in an act set to debut later this month during the third-annual Dancing With OUR Stars competition.
A fundraiser for Eagle’s Wings, the event will be held Aug. 21 in the Washington High School Performing Arts Center. For ticket information, call 252-975-1138 or visit www.dancefordonations.com.
For R.M. Flowers, captain with the Fire-Rescue-EMS, the dance-off has become a bit of a family competition. His wife, Angela, is performing with a troupe representing the Washington Police Department.
“We have a friendly rivalry at home,” Flowers said. “But we’re going to win — absolutely, hands down. They don’t stand a chance.”
While both the police department and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office participated in last year’s fundraising event, this is the first time the guys from Fire-Rescue-EMS have attempted to dance their way into the public’s hearts — and pocketbooks.
The winner of Dancing With OUR Stars is selected by the amount of donations each team collects for Eagle’s Wings. But as a matter of pride, and to put on a good show, all the teams are working diligently on their acts.
“We’ve been practicing weekly since late June,” said Flowers, the self-appointed dance coordinator for his team. “Believe it or not, I didn’t have a hard time getting a dance team together. Plenty signed up for it from the get go. Everybody is enjoying it, and it’s for a good cause.”
Joining Flowers on the team are Alan O’Kane, Brent Hamilton, Johnathan Hardin, Otis Harrell, Doug Bissette, Bryan Lilley and Josh Ingram. The dance crew ranges in age from mid-20s to late 30s, according to Flowers.
Assisting the team are dancers/percussionists Susan Sizemore, Jeremy Watson, Will Reising and Jennifer Ball, and percussionist Joe Sizemore.
“We’re doing a stomp dance,” Flowers said. “And we’re using things we would be using everyday in the department, like fire extinguishers, air cylinders, helmets and boots.”
Most of the men have never performed before, Flowers added.
“But we do have a couple guys with dance experience,” he said. “A couple of them took dance growing up, if that counts as experience.”
All ticket sales and team donations raised during the event will be donated to Eagle’s Wings, a United Way agency that addresses immediate hunger needs of the impoverished and homeless in Beaufort County.
For more information about Eagle’s Wings and its mission, visit www.eagles-wings.org.
Meet the stars …
Participants in the 2010 Dancing With OUR Stars fundraiser, presented by Eagle’s Wings and Le Moulin Rouge de Danse, include:
*Washington Police Department — Mick Reed, Thomas Everett, Frankie Johnson, Kiki Hampton, Angela Flowers and Justin Mixon;
*Bankers — Thad Dove, Deborah Waters, Jameson Taunton and Laurie Weston,;
*Downtown Washington merchants — Glen Weatherington, Mimi Linthicum, Jennie Jones, Brittany Fravel, Lauren Braddy, Erin Bonney Hassell, Samantha Myers and Brittany Elks;
*Moulin Rouge Adorables — Hope Jankowski, Elizabeth Manning, Gracie Landeck, Sabrina Stoddard, Caroline Briley, Olivia Briley, Olivia Paszt, Taylor Chase and Kylie Bowden;
*Moulin Rouge’s Rhythm Nation — Amber Shagena, Jodie Rouse, Kirsten Shackelford, Karlee Fottler, Robyn Carraway, Shelby Nall, Elizabeth Tanner, Krista Norris, Kaitlyn Hartley, Ashleigh Singleton, Samara Romero, Kaitlyn Corey, Hannah Sandy, Marica Timour, Brigette Thomas, Dina Nobles and Janet Cox;
*Committee of 100 — Arthur Williams, Roger Tuttle, Bill Zachman, Mitch St. Clair, Tom Atkins, John Weeks, Bobby Clark, Rocky Jacobs, Pat Mansfield, Tom Richter, Dick Barber, Yates Spruill, Tom Thompson, John Tate, Chip Ide and Wanda Kay Thompson;
*Cypress Landing Rockettes — Virginia Jenks, Beate Collins, Judy Peede, Lisa Clark and Pam Nuckols;
*Deplorable Folly Players — Riley Simpson, Raven Simpson, Jonathan Clayborne and Crystal Holman;
*Pine Needles Garden Club/Ten Tulips and a Weed — Katherine Tate, Karin Morrison, Paige Harris, Crystal Hardt, Sandy Johnson, Bernice Poteet, Martie Gahagan and Mary Lovenberg, with special guest Keith Hardt of Washington Utilities;
*Beaufort County Lawyers — Seth Edwards, Sonia Privette, Watsi Sutton, Jonathan Jones, Alice Espenshade, Melissa Pressley and Amber Cronk;
*Doctors/Mad Quack Fever — Melissa Beretich, Richard Young, Fred Teixeira, Nisha Mehta, Dennis O’Neal, Ken Nall and John Inzerillo;
*Fitness Unlimited aTONEment — Randy Moore, Lowell Taylor, Edwin Castro, Tara Carter, Lilly Jones, Susan Askren, Carrie Davis, Tara Newman, Jane Rouse, Robin Clarke and Christina Jackson;
*Special presentation — Kiko Hampton and Nico Nathan.
Dancers and choreographers helping the novices prepare for their stage debuts include Wanda Thompson, Shannon Reising, Janet Cox, Kendra Lobos, Tabitha Oliver, Caroline Phillips, Melissa Smith, Mila Arnold, Melissa Nelson, Shelley Genter, Gayle Watson-Roper, Kiki Hampton, Sean Nathan, Laurie Weston, Will Reising, Jeremy Watson and Susan Sizemore.
Note: Also participating are representatives of Beaufort County Community College and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office; those cast lists have not been provided to the Daily News.