Time again to go 'Dancing' in Geneva
At this time last year, it was a heavy dose of traveling cha-chas, open breaks, chase turns, snap turns, crossovers, sweetheart promenades and rollouts. While it may be Greek to some, all of those terms describe different dance steps and moves my wife and I were working on for our cha-cha routine in the first "Dancing with the Geneva Stars" event.
I am happy to report that this time around, I am strictly helping the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission get the word out about this year's event, to take place Feb. 6 at the Eagle Brook Country Club.
Six new dance teams will be competing - and ticket sales and voting start tomorrow on the genevarts.org Web site, which will display the couples. The couple that is able to secure the most $1 votes will be declared the winner the night of the show. Those casting votes on the Web site will be able to choose their favorite couples and then use a credit card to register votes.
In the meantime, of course, the couples will have to know how to dance their assigned routine with some semblance of competency - and be able to do it in front of hundreds of people.
This is not as daunting as it sounds. The formula, actually, is fairly simple: Practice, practice, practice.
All that's glitter: If you're going to use the "Dancing with the Stars" name, it might not hurt to have a backdrop similar to the popular reality TV show.
Tim Vetang seems to think so.
The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission member was excited when he found "Champagne Bubble Beaded Curtains" at an online shopping site called "Shop Wild Things."
Vetang and other members of the commission are working to plan the second "Dancing with the Geneva Stars" fundraising event.
Last year, the curtains behind the stage where dancers were introduced before their routines were gold and glittery. They were a nice touch, but these new curtains should raise the bar, so to speak.
"These curtains are supposed to be the same as what they use on the TV show," Vetang said. "Usual curtains like this have the reflective discs all lined up in a row, but the bubble ones have the discs off-center on the strand, so they resemble bubbles free-floating."
These 3-by-12-foot silver curtains will hang from the ceiling to the floor at Eagle Brook, covering the back of the stage.
A steady reader: Not many people in the Tri-Cities kept an eye on what I was writing about like Witold Pichik.
The longtime Blue Goose manager and his son Dave always had friendly greetings for me and maybe a question or two about things going on in town. I saw Dave at a recent St. Charles East basketball game, and asked how his father was doing. "Pich," the name by which so many people knew Witold, had been ill for some time.
Dave knew the time was coming for "Pich" to go chat with his maker, and mentioned that he didn't think it would be too long.
"Pich" passed away just before the Christmas holiday and when a fellow like this leaves us it is a great reminder of something extremely important - you can only hope that more people like him choose to be a part of your community.
Not my voice: I enjoy supporting just about any fundraiser that TriCity Family Services offers, but for the good of mankind, the community and especially those who attend, I think I will take a pass on the "Grease" singalong planned for 2 p.m. Jan. 10 at Dellora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center.
My singing voice is that bad.
The event sounds like a good time, and for $10 a person, why not go and belt out "You're the One That I Want" or "Greased Lightning" with others in the audience?
Purchase your tickets online at tricityfamilyservices.org or by calling (630) 232-1070.
Food, fuel and more: One could get "raffled" to death in these parts, as virtually every organization comes up with some sort of giveaway as a fundraiser.
But the Kane County Farm Bureau is throwing one out there that offers a grand prize of a John Deere Gator vehicle or $5,000 cash. And the second and third prizes aren't too shabby either - $100 in groceries every week for a year, and $50 in fuel every month for a year.
Contact the farm bureau office at (630) 584-8660 to buy a ticket.
One for CASA: Along the same fundraising lines, CASA Kane County has an excellent grand raffle planned for its March 6 VIP Auction at Eagle Brook Country Club. These raffle tickets also carry a $5,000 cash prize, as well as airline tickets, jewelry and a round of golf at Eagle Brook. You can buy these online at casakanecounty.org.
Nectar of the Vikings: It did not surprise me that the water in Geneva recently earned the honor as the best-tasting water for 2009 in the Kane County Water Association's annual contest.
Since the city put in its new water treatment facility in the spring of 2008, I have been quite impressed with the taste. In fact, a jug of cold Geneva water in the refrigerator serves as the perfect thirst-quencher on a regular basis around our house.
The city takes its tasty water to the next level now, with a statewide competition coming up in March.
dheun@sbcglobal.net