By Dee McPeek
Special to The PREVIEW
The dust is settling on Dancing with the Pagosa Stars (DWTPS), costumes have been put away and final results have been tallied.
The response to this new event was overwhelming and the results beyond the organizer’s wildest dreams. Local community support, ticket sales and votes from friends and acquaintances of stars around the country combined to raise over $120,000 to educate the at-risk children at Seeds of Learning.
With 275 guests and over 100 volunteers, stars, coaches, committee members and production crew, this event took on a life of its own. We had production help from Pagosa, Durango, Bayfield, Aztec and as far away as Albuquerque. The cumulative number of hours spent by all those people, many over several months, totals in the thousands.
The board of directors believes it is time to pause and show our gratitude for this amazing outpouring of support. The board has decided to cancel “A Little Black Dress Affair” that was scheduled for October. Though it has been an annual event the ladies of Pagosa look forward to, we cannot justify asking the community for silent auction and sponsorship support on the heels of such generosity for DWTPS.
We sincerely appreciate the hard work of so many people and the incredibly generous donations we’ve received. This funding will go directly toward the $200,000 that must be raised this year for operational costs. Each $22 raised at this event means one at-risk child can spend one more day learning at Seeds.
During the show, one of the lead teachers at Seeds asked Lynne Bridges, executive director, if this successful event meant she could now order the art supplies that had been put on hold. Thanks to everyone involved with DWTPS, the answer was “yes.”
