GREENFIELD — Jeff Rasche isn’t quite sure how he got roped into Dancing with the Stars.
“We often get asked to help with causes in the community,” Rasche, Greenfield’s chief of police said, “but two left feet and absolutely no rhythm doesn’t equal dance.”
Rasche and seven other notable Hancock County citizens are the featured entertainment for Dancing with the Stars, a fundraiser for the Women’s Resource Center, May 11 at St. Michael’s Church, 519 Jefferson Blvd. The doors open at 6 p.m. and a $50 ticket includes a buffet dinner, a cash bar, a silent auction, a dance exhibition from Dance East Ballet Academy and a place in the audience for the premiere of Greenfield’s Dancing with the Stars.
Dancing with the Stars will be the Women’s Resource Center’s first fundraiser, said Beth Ingle, chairman of the board of directors. Fundraisers in the past have been sponsored by other organizations, but this is the first to be hosted by the organization itself.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Ingle and her board of directors kicked around several ideas before landing on Dancing with the Stars. The original idea was to call on the services of area dance teachers and run the competition in much the same way as the television version of “Dancing with the Stars.” The group quickly learned that spring is recital season for dance teachers, so many of them were unable to commit.
“We had to switch our focus,” Ingle said. “Line dancing was the next thing. It made it easier because you didn’t have to have a partner — just one instructor.”
Ingle and crew recruited a number of locally known names. In addition to Rasche, the list of performers includes Marie Castetter and Brent Eaton, chief deputy prosecutor and prosecutor for Hancock County; Kathy Hall, broker and co-owner of Berkshire Hathaway Realty; Sandy Miller, the Hancock County Women’s Fund committee chair; James Roberts, Chief of Greenfield Fire Territory; Noelle Russell, editor in chief at the Greenfield Daily Reporter; and Andy Wilkins, digital sales manager at the Greenfield Daily Reporter.
The eight dancers will compete in three rounds. The first song, performed to Billy Ray Cyrus’ country hit “Achy Breaky Heart,” will pit all eight competitors in a line dance competition. Judges will then narrow the competition by half to four, who will perform to the Cupid Shuffle. The remaining two dancers square off to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk” to determine a champion.
Judging the event will be Mayor Chuck Fewell, Jill Collins of Remax Realty and Josh Sipes from the Hancock County Probation Department.
Rasche appreciates the relative simplicity of line-dancing.
“Once you’ve learned the 32 steps in the dances, it starts over again,” he said. “Sounds like it should be easy. A police chief should be able to do it.”
But the dance get harder as you go along, Rasche admits.
“I hope I get eliminated in the first round so I don’t have to do the other two,” he said.
Proceeds from the event will go towards the Women’s Resource Center. Founded in 2014 by the Women’s Fund, a component of the Hancock County Community Foundation, the mission of the Women’s Resource Center is to connect women and families with resources to enable them to become economically independent.
Over the past four years, the Women’s Resource Center has worked with more than 90 women, guiding them to resources for education, job training and financial assistance to help improve their quality of life.
“We hold their hands through the red tape,” Ingle said. “They just need to know that somebody’s there to help them through that. They’re not alone.”
In the meantime, the dancers will be rehearsing right up until the evening of the event. Betty Kremer, a volunteer from the Senior Center, has enjoyed working with the group and wouldn’t admit to having any problem students.
“They have wonderful attitudes,” she said. “They’re always laughing. They’re all doing the very best they can.”
When asked if she could predict a winner, Kremer demurred.
“I wouldn’t want to distinguish them right now,” she said. “I’ll let the judges do that.”
Tickets are still available at hcwrc.org. Seating is limited.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The doors open for Dancing with the Stars at 6 p.m. May 11 at St. Michael’s Church, 519 Jefferson Blvd.
$50 tickets are available online at hcwrc.org.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Pull Quote” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
“Once you’ve learned the 32 steps in the dances, it starts over again,” he said. “Sounds like it should be easy. A police chief should be able to do it,” Greenfield Chief of Police and Dancing with the Stars contestant Jeff Rasche.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
