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Get your tickets ready, Sanford!

Aug10

 

Watch out, Sanford, you’re not gonna know what hit you…….the event of the year is scheduled for this Friday – August 13th!  Superstitious about Friday the 13th?  You better be, cause this night is going to be the “perfect storm” and it is gearing up to be the biggest phenomenon that Sanford has ever seen under one roof!  You won’t want to miss it — this will be one you’ll be telling your Grandchildren about for years to come and you’ll want to say “I was there”!

That’s right, I’m talking about the Second Annual Dancing With The Lee County Stars!  Last year’s inaugural event was amazing – the town was a-buzz for months about it!  Everyone thought there was no way we could top it!  But, we WILL!!!  We have the biggest jam-packed night of entertainment that we could possibly put together – we’ve even amazed ourselves – it just might be illegal to provide this much fun in one night!

First — the Dancers!  Imagine 10 local “stars” and their “pro” partners all putting their reputations on the line to dance in front of 500+ people in the hopes of being named “the next Lee County Dancing Star”!  The competition is heating up – they are all out for blood and possession of the coveted mirror ball trophy – or, perhaps, one of four “Shining Star Awards”!

RANKING as of Monday, August 9th – VOTE, VOTE, VOTE to watch your favorite couple move up in the ranks:

# 1 – Roger King, Pfizer and Holly Hight, Sanford Herald

# 2 – Lee Arnold, The Pantry, Inc – Kangaroo Express and Chef Gregg Hamm, Cafe 121

# 3 – Suzanne Clifford, Sanford School of Classical Ballet and her husband, Charles Clifford, Medicine Park Pharmacy

# 4 – Jonathan Owens, Sanford Herald and Kelly Buie-Godfrey, Nautilus

# 5 – Margaret Murchison, WWGP/WFJA Broadcasting and Jeff Ward, Attorney

# 6 – Michele Bullard, United Way and Micah Tyler, Lee County High School

# 7 – Shane Seagroves, Emergency Management and Lynn Smith, Sanford Sting

# 8 – Kevin Yow, Air Cleaning Equipment, Inc. and Karla Koballa, Cooper Mechanical

# 9 – Alexander Brower, Hometown News and Jane Pomilio, Community Volunteer

# 10 – Lee West, Temple Theatre and Terri Robinson

ABOUT THE EVENT:

Communities In Schools of Lee County (CIS Lee), Pfizer, and The Pantry, Inc. – Kangaroo Express are pleased to present to you the 2nd Annual Dancing with the Lee County Stars event to benefit CIS Lee.

The event will feature “A Taste of Lee County” – a pre-show reception highlighting samples of signature dishes and heavy hor d’oeuvres from some of our area’s finest (and most generous) chefs – including:

Enjoy a teaser taste here and then go visit their restaurants to see what else they have to offer!  Click on their names to visit their web sites for more info.

ENTERTAINMENT AND CELEBRITIES, GALORE:

  • While our guests are enjoying some hor d’oeuvres and finding their seats, Gregg Gelb and the Heart of Carolina Jazz Trio will perform live from 6:00-7:00!
  • Then, we will have an exciting pre-show performance from 7:00-8:00!  This show will be fabulous!  Multi-award-winning, 10-year-old Natalie Rogers will take the stage.  Natalie has been dancing since she was 2-years-old and has danced in NYC for celebrities like Liza Minnelli and Stockard Channing! 
  • Also in the pre-show line up are Joe Hassen and his partner, Missy Keller – multi-award winning Champion dancers and teachers at the Fred Astaire Studio in Pinehurst, NC! 
  • Our Celebrity MC this year will be Sanford native, Mike Wheless from WQDR 94.7 radio! YAY!!!
  • Celebrity Judges include Peggy Taphorn, Temple Theater, Beverly Badget, Lee Co. Fair Pageant, and Dr. Moss, Lee County Schools
  • Celebrity Bartenders include Jay Riley, Gordon Anderson, Bill Stone, and Charles Blum, among others yet to be named…

The doors will open about 6:00 for mingling and sampling the food offered by the participating restaurants with the musical mood set by Greg Gelb and the Heart of Carolina Jazz Trio. The pre-show will begin about 7:00 and the main feature — the competition for who will be the next Lee County Dancing Star — will begin about 8:00.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION:

Just like the popular TV show, local “stars” are paired with local “pros” to perform a dance routine. The winners will be determined by who raises the most money through sponsorships, ticket sales, and votes! We will also have at least FOUR “Shining Star” award winners – the judge’s choice for the top four couples that stand out as the most entertaining of the evening – fundraising rankings are not considered – this is solely based on judges choice!

HOW CAN YOU HELP:

You can help your favorite couple win by purchasing sponsorships, tickets, and votes to be designated to the couple of your choice!

Contact CIS at 919-718-5426 or cisleedirector@windstream.net for more info.

Visit our website at www.dancingwiththeleecountystars.com for online ticket sales and voting.

VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN!!!!

Individual Tickets: $75.00 each
Votes: $10.00 each

Sponsorship Levels:

Salsa (Major) Sponsor: $5000
Tango Sponsor: $2000
Foxtrot Sponsor: $1000

Reserved Table: $650

Contact Heather at 919-718-5426 for more info on what each sponsor level receives for their sponsorship – tickets and promotional benefits depend on sponsor level.

 Come out and enjoy the show!  If you can’t come out (or we sell out before you can get your ticket), be sure to go online and VOTE for your favorite couple — they have worked so hard and deserve your support!!!

A Saturday Well Spent

Aug1

Saturdays are often a struggle of whether or not to take care of business or sit back and enjoy the end to a long work week.  You know – some business can only be taken care of on Saturday morning and there is all that housework and laundry that you really weren’t up to taking care of after getting home from work!  But, then again, it is Saturday – a day off work – meaning NOT a work day!  But there is all that personal work that needs to be done and who else is gonna do it if you don’t!  So, what often happens?  Saturday is a full and busy day trying to do it all – housework, shopping, and relaxing!

Here’s how my Saturday played out this week:

As usual, the girls woke me up about 6:00 am to go outside and take care of their business.  But, I was able to get them to come back in quickly and go back to bed.  This is getting to be a nice ritual that I’m glad they have taken to — better than in the past when I would try to go back to sleep and they would prefer to play and make sleeping in impossible! 

I finally got up for the day about 8:30 – earlier than I had hoped because I had a pretty exhausting week, but it was nice none-the-less!  I fed the girls and we curled up on the couch to watch a couple of the programs I had on DVR.  Megan played ball with me and Katie and Amy snuggled.  I was well on my way to deciding the relaxing option was going to win out.  I thought about all the things I should be doing and then looked at the girls and just settled in for a quiet morning!

Then…….suddenly, at 11:00, I remembered that I needed to go to Sanford Animal Hospital to get some Advantix and Interceptor because I forgot to get them at All Animals the other day when I was there and I give those treatments out on the 1st of each month……..so, I headed out.  And that was the turning point where the day became more about getting things done!

I made a long weekend trip to see my Mom last weekend and when I got in my car at RDU I found that I must have parked near an ant hill or maybe someone spilled a sweet drink beside my car or something — whatever caused it doesn’t matter — what matters is that I discovered the inside of the rider’s side door was a swarm of ANTS!!!!  They were localized just on that door and a little on the rider’s side of the dashboard.  So, I got in and drove to Lowes to get some ant spray.  Bottom line, the pony needed a good cleaning to get rid of the mess all that left.  So, from the vet I went on to the car wash on the corner of Horner and Wicker — all nice and clean, now!

I came back home to think about what else I needed to do — I decided to go to Cary to BJs and Party City to get supplies for Communities In Schools of Lee County’s Second Annual Dancing with the Lee County Stars event that is being held at the Civic Center on August 13th (how about if I take a moment here to  add in  an extremely shameless plug for the event — go to www.dancingwiththeleecountystars.com to purchase tickets, vote for the dancing couple of your choice, or get info on how to be a sponsor)!

I headed that way about 2:00 or so and I have to say that I really hate going in to Cary!  Sure, they have a great selection of stores and restaurants and entertainment.  But, the traffic and difficulty getting in and out of places just kills it for me!  Crossroads Plaza is where I had to go for Party City and I also did a few other things while I was there — you get in that place and end up driving all around the world trying to figure out how to get out going in the direction you want to go!   And I was parked in lines at stop signs and stop lights longer than it took me to take care of the business I needed to do!

I enjoy shopping in Sanford and usually find whatever I may need right here!  I support shopping locally and have limited reasons for going out-of-town to shop.  If Sanford could just get a BJs and a PetSmart, I could avoid Cary a lot more often! 

The up side was that between BJs and Party City, I got all the supplies I needed and a few things for myself, as well.  I also ran into a dear old friend I rarely get to see and we talked in the aisle at BJs for what seemed like an hour or more!  I also took in a movie – scroll down to read my review in a post I wrote last night.  I also planned to pop in at Macy’s and PetSmart while I was up there, but it got late and I got tired, so I decided not to!

The icing on the cake was dinner at Red Robin — YUMMM!  Of course, the meal was good, but I really enjoyed the Speckled Lemonade – a quirky looking glass of nicely tart lemonade with fresh strawberries cut up in it!  OMG, it was so good I had to take a photo of it:

No – there was no alcohol in it and my camera wasn’t drunk when I snapped the photo – that is really what the glass looked like!  Funky and fun!

I got home about 8:30 or so and snuggled in with the girls to watch TV and play!  A perfect end to a day mixed with relaxation and productive activities. 

So, now on to Sunday — definitely a day of relaxation and enjoyment!

Beginnings, Endings and Beginnings

Jul3

The beginning?  Well, I guess you can say the fall of 2005 was the beginning of the beginning.  There was “some sorta” before that and it really truly began after that, but yeah, let’s go with the fall of 2005.  Because it was then that I joined the 2005-06 class of LEEdership Sanford and met the people who would get me hooked on what became a passion for me – Communities In Schools of Lee County.  It was also the beginning of a lot of really great friendships!

The “some sorta before” relates to why I had an interest in considering CIS.  The place I work has had a long partnership with CIS and for some years prior to the fall of 2005, I was involved on a small level in volunteering for CIS through work – tutoring, reading to kids on my lunch break, collecting stuff for the Teacher Resource Room, etc.

Then, my boss and our plant manager recommended me for the LEEdership Sanford class that year.  I was a little reluctant, but agreed.  And, I’m so glad I did – I really enjoyed every part of LEEdership Sanford.  I learned a LOT about the community I had lived in for 20 years, but really wasn’t overly engaged in.  I met so many wonderful people, especially my class mates – many of whom are still good friends. 

Through that amazing experience, I met Alison, who was the Executive Director of CIS at the time.  Alison and I became friends and she recruited me and a few of our other class mates to join her Board of Directors.  I was planning to ask her how to get more involved in volunteering, but didn’t quite plan to jump in with both feet!  I had never been on a board before and didn’t know what to expect.  But, Alison and the other wonderful board members made it easy!

I spent my first year learning the ropes as Program Committee Chair and fell in love!  I told Alison when she signed me on that I would work hard for her, but to not expect me to be good at asking for money or organizing fundraisers!  But, that was also the first year CIS held a major fundraiser – the very first Gala event and I assumed the role of Gala Chair and got thrown into the world of fundraising BIG TIME!  It was so successful — the biggest and most elegant event Sanford had ever seen!   It was a huge effort on the part of many people and I was so proud to be a part of it all!

Because of my work on the Program Committee and the Gala, I was asked to agree to being nominated for the position of Board Chair.  I really didn’t think I was ready for that responsibility, but Alison and the board thought I was, so I agreed.  And that was the beginning of a three-year run as Board Chair.

This past week was the end of that run……..after a lot of ups and downs – three successful Gala events, the economy hitting us with both barrels, almost having to shut down, multiple employee changes, and our coming back with a vengeance with the amazing Dancing with the Lee County Stars event last year – I have turned the role over to a new Chair who will be amazing and bring a whole new perspective to the organization!  I thought long and hard about resigning from the board altogether, but I couldn’t do that – I have too much of my heart and soul in it.  But, it was time for a change – both for me and the organization.

But that isn’t the end…….it is the beginning!  I’ll continue on as a very active board member and am looking forward to great things to come!  I am excited about being a part of the newly formed Public Relations and Marketing Committee and the chance to work with the person that was appointed as Chair for that committee.  I have come to love that part of the work I’ve done with CIS the most and am really anxious to learn all I can about how to best promote and market this great organization!

The organization is going through new beginnings, as well — earlier this year, CIS-National rolled out a new logo and we started using it recently.  It is so cute and a lot more representative of what we do in the community.

The old logo:

 

The new logo:

They also rolled out a new Mission Statement:

The old Mission Statement:  “Helping Kids Stay in School and Prepare For Life.”

The new Mission Statement:  “Empowering Students to Stay in School and Prepare For Life.”

Locally, we have a new Executive Director who I’m sure will raise the bar and do some amazing things for the organization!  And, last but not least….for now….we are a little over a month away from the Second Annual Dancing with the Lee County Stars event!  August 13 — Dennis A Wicker Civic Center!  Visit our website at www.dancingwiththeleecountystars.com for more info!

It was a great three years and I am extremely proud of what we all accomplished together — but there are so many wonderful things on the horizon that I know it will be just a drop in the bucket of great memories associated with CIS! 

Oh, and by the way – if you ever get the opportunity to be a part of the LEEdership Sanford program, I highly recommend it!  If all you get out of it is the friends you make, it is so well worth it!

What’s New?

Apr23

What’s new?  Lot’s of stuff going on and a couple of bits of news that I haven’t posted about on here, yet – like big news at CIS and a new restaurant in town!  My excuse for not posting sooner…….well, that’s news, too!  Lot’s of stuff going on and, unfortunately, no time to write about it!!!!  So, taking some time this morning to cover a few things:

The Steele Pig is the cool, catchy name of a new restaurant in town!  It isn’t really “NEW”, but more like a make-over of an old favorite!  Bella Bistro has been a key feature in downtown Sanford for many years.  Chad Blackwelder, chef and owner of Bella, decided to reinvent his restaurant and make it more affordable and attractive to a wider customer base.  The name was changed to The Steele Pig and the menu was revamped to include a mix of old favorites and new, exciting smoked meats and sandwiches!  I took Mom earlier this week and we had a wonderful time chowing down on smoked spareribs that were melt-in-your-mouth delicious!!!  Check out the Roving Review I wrote for the SocialSanford blog.  Better, yet – go see for yourself – The Steele Pig….dinner….Tues-Sat….133 S. Steele Street…..be there!

Communities in Schools of Lee County announced a couple of weeks ago that we have a new Executive Director!  Heather Little begins her journey in her new role at CIS on May 3rd.  Laura Biediger tendered her resignation to go back to school in the fall – she’ll be pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at UNC Chapel Hill.  We wish Laura well and will miss her!  But, we are so very excited to welcome Heather as our new ED.  Heather is no stranger to CIS Lee….she is on the Board of Directors and serves as Program Committee Chair.  She is also credited with starting and building the BackPack Pals Program for Lee County Schools and bringing it to CIS Lee.  We’ll be so lucky to have her!

Personally………the reason I haven’t had a lot of time to catch up on the news is that my Mom is visiting!  YAY!!!!  We’ve had a great week sharing all kinds of stuff — pedicures at Marcello’s, dinner at The Steele Pig and Cafe 121 (she told me before she got here to not forget to plan time with Chef Hamm and his wonderful ribeye steaks!!!), cooking together, watching lots of NetFlix movies, and just plain sitting around, relaxing, and enjoying each other’s company!!!

Well, that’s all for now…….I’m sure there is more news to catch up on, but no more time this morning!

Follow Ups, Updates, Etc…

Mar3

Lots of stuff has been going on in my life, lately.  Lots of thoughts are bumping around in my head.  Lots of things I find that I have an opinion on.  So, here I am thinking I should probably find a way to get them out of my head and make room for some new stuff….aaahhh – the therapeutic nature of the blog, or should it be called a “brain dump receptacle”?

First — the most recent update is that WINTER is STILL attacking Sanford, NC!  We typically get one sign of snow a year – sometimes barely noticable, sometimes quite problematic, always a source of great excitement for the area.  We usually get more ice and winter mixes than actual snow.  This year – the first since I moved here in 1985 – we had three major snow events and a couple more minor showings.  If I kept count accurately, there were five instances of snow in some capacity since January, 2010!  So – January, February, and March all had a major snow event.  March?  Seriously?  This is the time of year I’m usually tormenting my northern friends with emails about how spring is starting to show up!  Here are some pictures depicting the 2010 winter season in Sanford, so far…. This is the same shot taken of all three snow days.  The first was in January – we got a heavy mix of snow and ice - my driveway was a thick sheet of ice!  The middle was in February – it came down light and fluffy, didn’t stick on the pavement, and was gone by mid-day!  The last was March – today, in fact – it is very wet and heavy and completely covered everything, but is already melting away!  I didn’t get as much as parts of the county west of me, though! 

  

Next is a follow-up to last week’s post about being stressed about some upcoming outpatient surgery I was scheduled for this week.  It happened yesterday and I am not really sure why I was so stressed out!  It was really a piece of cake.  I wasn’t totally unscathed, but it was definitely not worth all the worry I invested into it.  I have to say I had a very good experience at Central Carolina Hospital — the nurses were so nice and helpful, the anesthesiologist was also very nice, informative, and caring!  As promised by the anesthesiologist, they started with a little something to relax me and by the time I got into the operating room, the last thing I remember is scootching over onto the table.  The next thing I knew, the nurses were calling my name and telling me to breathe deeply to wake me up in recovery!  I have no idea what happened in between that and, quite frankly, don’t really care!  They warned that I would likely be weak, tired, and woozy most of the day.  They also warned that I might have somewhere between mild and extensive cramping and to take pain meds to control that.  I got home, had some lunch, and went to bed.  I spent almost all day and then all night sleeping!  I got up a few times and tried to stay up, but just wasn’t up to it – very light headed and fairly lethargic.  But, the cramping never happened – I had some twinges and hints of cramping a few times late last night, but nothing else!  Ronald was there through the surgery and stayed with me all day – he was very supportive!  Lisa came over after she finished with some commitments she had during the day and was very helpful.  Today, I am up, but still somewhat light headed and after being up for about 4 hours, I think I’m ready for a nap!  The funny thing of it all is the instructions for my first 48 hours:  Do not drive a car, use power tools, ride a bicycle or climb a tree!  Hhhhmmmm – guess I’ll just have to put off my plans for today to ride a bike to the nearest big tree, climb to the top and use power tools to trim the limbs and build a tree house – then drive my car to haul off the debris!  Tomorrow, I’ll be back to work and ready for all that life has to offer!  I go back to the doc in a couple weeks to find out about the biopsy and get checked out.  I’m very optimistic!

Now — on to the announcement of the upcoming new season of Dancing with the Stars:   Come on!  Last season was fairly lackluster and blah….I hoped that would pick up this year.  Guess not — maybe this show has run its course and they are stretching at straws trying to find appropriate stars – problem is, it isn’t working!  Did they really think Kate Gosselin and Buzz Aldrin would be good choices?  And the Batchelor guy???  Really???  OK, so Aiden Turner from All My Children just might give me a reason to tune in, but we’ll see if watching him is enough to overcome having to watch the rest…….it doesn’t sound too promising!

Fundraiser updates:  February brought us two – count ‘em – two very successful CARA fundraisers!!!  First Friday at Cafe 121 on Feb 5th was the most successful event since Chef Hamm started hosting these events for local non-profits.  Out take for the evening was $1000 and it was so much FUN!!!   Then, on Feb 22nd, we had our third annual Bella Dinner benefiting CARA’s Holly Fund (fund maintained to provide care for homeless animals with special health or developmental needs) held at Bella Bistro.  This, too, was a fabulous event – fun, great food – 5 course gourmet dinner with wine pairings and a champagne reception – and lots of wonderful conversations with fellow animal lovers!  Our proceeds for that event was about $3300!  So – in one month and two amazing events, we brought in over $4000!  What a great month!  The next CARA event is “Ride for Their Lives” – a biking event at Deep River Park at Camel Back Bridge on May 8th.  AND — drum roll, please — at Communities in Schools of Lee County are starting to get into the bulk of the plans for this year’s ”Dancing with the Lee County Stars” event scheduled for August 13th!  It is going to be even better than the hugely popular first event last year!!

Well, that’s about it for now — I could go on, but need a nap!  hehehe

Huge Hit!

Aug23

DWTS_logo_2It is all over – the night Lee County has been looking forward to has passed – Dancing with the Lee County Stars was a huge success!  As I stood watching the volunteers finish with the clean up efforts in the near empty hall at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center, my thought was “we did it!  we saved CIS”!    By “we”, I did not just mean those of us who rallied to hold the fundraiser in an effort to avoid having to close the doors on an important organization for Lee County.  I mean the entire community…….Lee County saved Communities In Schools of Lee County and for that I am totally overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude.  The incredible amount of generosity in Lee County never ceases to amaze me!

Deciding to change from our signature fundraiser – an elegant Gala at a prominent Lee County home – to a new type of fundraiser that we had no experience organizing and has not been tried in Sanford was risky on it’s own.  But to hang all our hopes of staying alive on it in the current economic environment was insane!  The skeptics told us it would never work.  But, we had to try – we just had to!  CIS has come too far to just give up because the economy was bad and we were struggling.  But, we were also realistic – we had heard of other counties in NC that did a DWTS themed fundraiser that raised over $100,000 – we knew that was not going to be likely.  So, we cut our operating expenses to the bare bones, planned our budget with a very conservative approach, and set a stretch goal that we hoped we just might come close to.  And we began to plan the event that was critical to our future.  And it worked!  We not only met our budget and even hit our stretch goal – we blew it out of the water!!! 

Along came the dancers — most of them reluctantly signed on to help a good cause, but wondered how they were going to learn to dance and not make fools of themselves with such a short time to prepare!!!  They all worked hard and the end result was AMAZING!  Each and every one of them looked great and had the crowd cheering and voting like crazy!!!  They are our heroes!!  Yes, there were a lot of people who worked hard and made this happen and they all deserve a ton of credit……but, it was the couples who put their reputations on the line to perform a choreographed dance routine in front of about 800 people that really made the show!  They are the reason people will be lining up to buy tickets next year as soon as we start announcing the date in fear that we will sell out much earlier!  They are the reason everyone had such a good time!  They are the reason we were successful – their creative and competitive efforts soliciting pre-votes and ticket sales to be the winner by raising the most funds skyrocketed us over our goals for the event!  Yes – they are the heroes and deserve the most credit! 

Congratulations to all the couples – you’re all winners in my heart!  The top fundraisers and winners of the coveted mirror ball trophy were Wing Man Tam and Karla Koballa!  The Artistic Winners (the judge’s choice) of the night were Dana Slate and Carl Bryan.  Congratulations!

To see how wonderful it was, Click here to see the photos that are posted on WRAL.com – they got some great shots – and check out Sunday’s Sanford Herald for local coverage of the event!

I won’t say that it went off without any hitches, but somehow, everything worked out.  We even overcame the biggies that could have been disastrous – everything fell into place!  We sold out our approximately 550 tickets a week before the big night.  But, before we could shut down the on-line ticket sales and contact board members and dancers to stop selling tickets, we over sold by more than 200 additional attendees!  We ended up with just about 800 people, including volunteers!  So we had to scramble to accommodate the larger crowd with just one week to go!  Then, the day before the event, we found out that the company in Raleigh that agreed to donate the wine, backed out on us!!!  A huge thank you to City Councilman Mike Stone for saving the day by making some very fast calls and, within about 1/2 an hour, arranging for us to buy the wine from another source at cost – it resulted in an unexpected expense, but we had wine and we ended up with a donation that covered the expense – so it all worked out.  Due to the very large # of people arriving all at the same time, we had some confusion and logistical issues around finding seats and getting the food – definitely some lessons learned to keep in mind for next year – but, by the time the show started, it was all good!  We have a lot of lessons learned that we will keep in mind as we plan next year’s event!

But, we did it – we saved CIS!  And we have the most wonderful community in the world to thank for it! 

Watch for an announcement of the date for next year — get your tickets early — we’re sure to sell out again!

Hang on to your hats, boys!

Aug17

This is going to be a WILD week — seat belts and helmets required!!!  We’re down to the wire with the CIS Dancing with the Lee County Stars event.  Friday is the big nite!  So — the week ahead will be wild, rough, and fun…fun…fun!!!  Here’s what the universe has in store for me:

  • Of course, I will be working every day at my day job — you know, the one that pays the bills….
  • Monday evening:   Dress rehearsal, meeting with the restaurants, and final detail discussions all at the Civic Center!
  • Tuesday lunch time:   Wing Man Tam – the dancer that is representing the company I work for – and I will be outside the Cafe at work collecting cash for votes from the employees and keeping the excitement going!
  • Tuesday evening:   CIS Board meeting to review the event details and what everyone needs to know!
  • Wednesday evening:  Create the restaurant menu tent cards, finalize the design and details on the sponsor boards, and any other preparation details!
  • Thursday evening:   Drop off supplies and start preparing the Civic Center!
  • Friday:  Get off work at noon, run by the Civic Center to set up the Taste of Lee County and other decorations, run home to get changed into my fancy duds, and be back to the Civic Center by 5:00 to get ready for the doors to open for the event at 6:00!
  • Friday night – late:   CRASH!!!!
  • Saturday morning:  I actually have a 9:00 am hair appt — what was I thinking when I made THAT appt???  I knew that the morning of the 22nd would be the morning after the event and that I would likely still be in a coma from a week FULL TO THE RAFTERS with late nights, stress, and excitement!!!  But — if I reschedule now, I won’t get in for weeks and my hair soooooo needs a trim and a root job!!!

WHEW!!!!  I’m tired already — just writing it all down has totally exhausted me!  But, it is going to be GREAT — I can’t wait to take in every wild and crazy second of this week!

Hope you already have your tickets to the show — it’s sold out!!!

Dancing with the Lee County Stars

Aug12

NOTICE:  This event has SOLD OUT!!!  We’re sorry, but there are no more tickets available for sale or sponsorships!  Online voting is still available – so please visit the event web site at www.dancingwiththeleecountystars.com to continue to cast your votes for your favorite dancing couple!

DWTS_logo_2

Who will get your vote and
be named the FIRST Lee County Dancing Star?

 

WHAT:  

Dancing with the Lee County Stars

WHEN: 

Friday, August 21st beginning at 6:00 pm

WHERE: 

Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center

HOW IT WORKS:

The dancers collect votes and sell tickets/sponsorships.  All funds raised by each dancer will go towards their vote total.  The couple who raises the most money will be declared the first Lee County Dancing Star!  There will also be an Artistic Winner based on the judges votes!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Visit the event web site at www.dancingwiththeleecountystars.com
Tickets are $50.00 each and include food and entertainment
Vote for your favorite couple – $10.00 each – vote early and often!
Sponsorships are available at three levels:
          Salsa Level – $3,500 – includes 16 tickets and other amenities
          Tango Level – $1,000 – includes 8 tickets and other amenities
          Waltz Level – $400 – includes 8 tickets and other amenities
Tables can also be reserved for groups who purchase 8 tickets together

THE DANCERS:

Bud Hunter and Jan Stewart
Karla Koballa and Wing Man Tam
Dana Slate and Carl Bryan
Cortney McCullough and Billy Liggett
Dana Atkins and Chef Gregg Hamm
Carolyn Schaeffer and Mike Neal
Courtney Smith and Jeff Smith
Scott Schaeffer and Jo Jarrett
Audrey Stone and Bill Stone
David Morse and Toni Davenport
Kenneth Neilson and Paige Cabe
Janel Livingston and Tracy Carter
John Mangum and Ellen Mangum
Joni Pavlik and Dwight Hollingsworth
Matt LaSasso and Katherine Southard (Miss NC 2009)

FEATURING: 

A Taste of Lee County – local specialties from some of the area’s finest chefs, including:

Amy’s Confection Company
Bella Bistro
Cafe 121
Fresh Choice Cafe
Java Cafe Express
Myra’s Kitchen
Smith’s Coffee
Harris Wholesale

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS and COOL NOTES: 

Special opening performance by Sanford Area Society of Shaggers
Miss NC 2009 will be competing as one of the “Stars”
We have a husband and wife team competing
We have a father and daughter team competing
We have a husband and wife who are competing against each other
Chef Gregg Hamm is pulling double duty – Dancer and Taste of Lee Co
Yes, Wing Man is his real name!!!

WHY: 

Fundraising event for Communities In Schools of Lee County!  CIS is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping kids stay in school and prepare for life.  We depend on the support of the community and local businesses to fund our programs, including Adopt-A-School, BackPack Pals, School Stuff Campaign, the Teacher Resource Room, Lunch Buddies, Lego Robotics, eMentoring, and much more!  As with most non-profits, CIS is struggling to stay alive in the economic down trend.  The proceeds of this event represent over 50% of our annual operating budget.  Your support of Communities In Schools of Lee County will help make a difference in the children of Lee County!

Saturday Morning

Jul18

The weekend is here!  Lots to talk about – CIS Dancing with the Lee County Stars event; CARA events; some updates on my ongoing home renovations; and more!  Who said that summer days are “lazy”?  I am definitely in high gear and busy, busy, busy!

Communities In Schools of Lee County is doing Dancing with the Lee County Stars as our major fundraiser for the 2009-10 fiscal year (click here to access the event web site).  This event will take place on Friday August 21st beginning at 6:00 at the Dennis Wicker Civic Center here in Sanford, NC.  The evening will start out with a chance to mingle and enjoy “A Taste of Lee County” including specialty menus and assorted beverage items by some of the area’s finest chefs – Amy’s Confection Company, Bella Bistro, Cafe 121, Fresh Choice Cafe, Myra’s Kitchen, Smith’s Coffee and Bottled Water, and Harris Wholesale.  The entertainment begins at 8:00 with ballroom and shag routines performed by local “stars” and their dancing partners!  The winner will be the couple who raise the most money.  How do they do that?  Through your votes and by selling tickets and sponsorships for the event!   For more information, visit our event web site to find the names of all the dancing couples and links to cast your votes and purchase tickets on line.   CIS has programs that connect needed resources between the Lee County schools and local businesses and individuals.  We focus on providing services that will keep kids in school and prepare them for life!  As with many non-profit organizations, the declining economy has taken it’s toll on CIS and we are in desperate need of funds!  So – vote early and often and get your tickets to come out to enjoy a fun filled night of food and entertainment!

Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA) is teaming up with Temple Theatre and featured artists Lisa Mathis and Yvonne Sovereign to host a “Dog Dayz of Summer” event on Friday, August 7th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Art Studio at 102 South Steele Street, Suite 302 – on the corner of Steele and Carthage Streets.  $25 will get you into this event and all proceeds go to CARA, a Sanford area non-profit organization devoted to helping animals in need of forever homes.  Tickets can be purchased at Temple Theatre and include an art exhibition, reception with appetizers, and a seat for the Friday evening performance of 101 Dalmatians at Temple Theater at 7:00 pm on the 7th.  Come out and support this wonderful organization and give a helping hand to animals in need of our love and support!  Check out CARA’s and Temple’s web sites for more info on both organizations and the 101 Dalmatians production.

I am so excited….I am planning for a visit this fall by my Mom and this year, my brother and sister-in-law are going to come down and join us for one of the long weekends that she will be here!!!  I can’t wait!!!  This is the first time my brother and his wife have been to my current home.

Other fantastic family news:  My nephew, Bryan – my brother’s son – and his wife, Brianne, are expecting a baby!!!  Too early to know if I’ll be a Great Aunt or a Great Uncle (my feeble attempt at humor – I mean too early to know if it will be a boy or girl), but we’re all anxiously awaiting the newest addition to our family — the first of that generation!!! 

Now — renovation update:  The kitchen and living room still have some minor work to be done – rearranging things and putting stuff back up on walls before they are really presentable – but we did get the wainscoting and chair rail molding up on the kitchen walls!  It looks GREAT!!! 

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Now, all I need is for the kitchen curtains I ordered to arrive, put up a couple things on the walls, and finish painting the table and chairs – the table is painted, but the chairs are still waiting for me to get on them!  Then, the kitchen will be DONE!

What’s on my mind?

May16

So, what’s on my mind this morning?  LOTS!!!  I, like some of my fellow bloggers, have been pretty bad about blogging on a regular basis!  Mostly because I have been on two vacations in the last couple of months and been really busy with stuff!  But — enough of the excuses!!  I’m back and plan to  write more often again!

OK, for starters — I thought it was looking like it was going to be a lovely Saturday, weather-wise, and now it is raining and not looking so good!  I was really hoping for a great weekend that I could get out and go cruising with the top down – guess not!

I am almost to a major milestone for my blog — I will soon hit 5000 visitors – as of right now, I am at 4,951!!!  Of course, this is only since I’ve been on WordPress - I moved to WordPress in September 2008, so I’ve gotten almost 5,000 visitors in about 8 months!!!  WOW!!!  When I left Blogger, I had about 4,700 unique visitors logged in and I was using that blog service for a year!  So — thanks, WordPress viewers!!!  I’m happy that you are enjoying my little site!!! 

Communities In Schools is hard at work planning and organizing our very first “Dancing With The Lee County Stars” fund-raising event!  It is scheduled for August 21st at the Civic Center!  Watch for more info and plan to join us!  If you know of anyone who is really good at ballroom dancing and may enjoy donating their time to help us by being paired with a “star” or other help we may need, please call the CIS office at 718-5426 or you can leave a comment here!

I can’t wait for “Dames at Sea” to start at the Temple Theatre – it is their last show of the season and it promises to be the Grand Finale!!!  The show starts with their “pay what you can” night on May 27th and runs through June 14th.

I’m finally going to get the white walls in my house painted!!!  It has been on my project list every year since I bought the house in January, 2004!!  Every year something else comes up that I decide is a higher priority.  This year, I actually made it a New Year’s Resolution, too!!  I was determined!!!  But, what ended up making it happen was my best friend has been laid off – his job at Transmatic went away when they closed down – and he has the time and I’d rather pay him than some stranger!  I gave him my wish list and he is going to see what he can get to for me – the priorities are painting my walls and adding some ways to organize my garage better!  So — I’m looking through swatches to decide on colors and thinking about what I need to get done to prepare the house for the job!!!  Oh, boy!  What fun this is going to be!!!

I was looking to see if there was a movie I might be interested in seeing at the theaters this weekend…….probably not!  I was excited about seeing “The Soloist” when the previews came out, but I have decided that I don’t want to support the career of someone who thinks it is funny to tell a 16 year old girl to “go make a porno movie and grow up”, to suggest she take heroin and become a lesbian, and hopes she catches chlamydia on a bicycle seat – and I believe there were other sexual comments, as well!!!  Yeah, I know Jamie Foxx apologized to Miley Cyrus, but the comments were totally uncalled for and absolutely inappropriate for a man of his age (any age, for that matter) to make to a young girl – I don’t care if she is a celebrity or what she said that made him think it was funny to sound off on her like that!!!  So – “The Soloist” is off my list of potentials!  I also thought about seeing “Obsession”, but haven’t heard anything good about it — has anyone seen it?  I may give this one a try!  I considered “Star Trek”- yep, I’m somewhat of a trekkie – but I hear it isn’t as good as the hype about it and that the filming will make you dizzy!!!  I think I’ll wait a while to hear from some others before I spend my money – maybe I’ll just wait for it to be available on NetFlix!  So – not sure if there will be a movie review posted this weekend or not…..

I guess that’s all I can think of at the moment…….but, I’ll be back!!!