DWOS plays to packed house

Published 8:46 pm Monday, August 13, 2012

First place winners at Dancing with OUR Stars, Washington Therapy.

 

Washington Therapy danced its way to first place at Saturday’s Dancing with OUR Stars, a fundraiser for the Eagle’s Wings food pantry and other local charities.

“I was ecstatic. All of our hard work has paid off and we will be able to help Eagle’s Wings and the ARC of Beaufort County fulfill their mission,” said Cathy Gaynor, owner of Washington Therapy and a dancer in the winning act.

Sally Love, executive director of Eagle’s Wings, praised the efforts of the dancers and volunteers who made the fundraiser a success.

“We’re just so thankful for all the dancers who took the time to do this. A lot of time was spent on this,” Love said. “I’d also like to thank the volunteers for all of the hard work they did.”

Other winning acts included second-place winners the Literacy Volunteers, who danced to a “Mary Poppins” medley.

Third-place winners were Ruth’s House dancers Debbie Adams and Tad Tankard, who showed some “Disco Fever.”

The afternoon and evening performances each had a People’s Choice Award. The People’s Choice of the 4 p.m. show was the Chocowinity Primary School, which danced to “Tom Cruise Classics.” The Washington High School Dancers stole the hearts of the 8 p.m. audience with its “Tron” pop-locking routine done in costumes that literally glowed on a dark stage.

The biggest winner of the night was the Eagle’s Wings Food Pantry. The event raised $20,000 for the food pantry.

Love said the money raised was less than previous years. Because of the state of the economy, she said ticket prices had been lowered this year and there were fewer acts participating in the show.

“But it was a great show,” Love said. “Everybody did a very good job and it was a nice variety of acts.”

Eagle’s Wings’ next fundraiser will be a 5K race Oct. 27 during Smoke on the Water. A dinner, dance and auction is scheduled for Feb. 2.