INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Vero’s celebrity dancers and instructors have been honing their footwork and fund-raising skills in hopes of bringing home the coveted mirrored-ball trophy at the fourth annual Dancing with Vero’s Stars event to benefit the Indian River Healthy Start Coalition.
The contest is well underway even though the 10 couples won’t compete on the Waxlax Stage at Saint Edward’s School until March 10.
Each dollar donated on their behalf equates to a vote, and from what we hear, this season is heating up to be the best one yet.
We reached out to all the dancers and heard back from six willing to share their journeys so far.
To coin a phrase from “Law and Order,” these are their stories.
- Laura Guttridge
“We’re doing a rhumba,” said Laura Guttridge, paired with instructor Tom Isola. “He picked the music and I picked the dance. I’ve always loved the rhumba; it’s almost like you’re walking and dancing.”
She rehearses at Royal Ballroom, where 2011 champion Bobby Guttridge practiced but asked, “What are the chances of my husband and me both winning?
“My instructor is a real firecracker; he’s so excited and he loves ballroom dancing. He really gets into the history of it. He gave me the history of the song as well. Everyone knows the song, but there’s a story behind it. It’s just an example of how detailed my instructor is on everything.”
The pair will dance to Michael Bublé’s rendition of “Save the Last Dance for Me,” written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.
Like many of the other women, the perfect dress has so far eluded her.
“I could only find something in orange and that’s my worse color. I’m not coming out on stage in orange.”
On the fund-raising front, she and Bobby have been busy garnering support from friends and family and through Facebook, and have been collecting items for the silent auction.
“The best part is meeting a lot of different people,” Guttridge said. “Normally the charities I’m involved with are animal related so this is very different. I’m just trying to raise as much money as I can and dance the best dance I can dance.”
- Charlotte Terry
As a top producer with the Charlotte Terry Real Estate Group of Alex Mac- William, Charlotte Terry said hers is an action business.
“There’s immediacy to it; time is of the essence. You can’t pussy foot around; you’ve got to dance around.”
That said, Terry admitted that while she likes to dance, the salsa she will perform with Roger O’Brien is new to her.
“About this time my dancing partner is probably having a panic attack,” said Terry. “I think he’s seriously concerned about my ability to perform on March 10 and, I might add, I am too.”
In addition to practices at Ponce de Salon Hair Salon where O’Brien works, part of their routine has been dancing Thursday evenings at the Irish American Club.
“I’ve met a whole new group of friends; it’s a world of people who love to dance. It’s been very interesting and very exciting. It’s the only place that I know of that you can just go dance.”
“My mother has come up with a retro outfit of hers; right out of the closet,” Terry said of her costume. “I think it’s so appropriate because she challenged me. I’m going to try to make it work. I’m just going to have fun – girls just want to have fun and that’s going to be me.”
- Mark Rodolico
“This weekend was the first weekend where I finally felt I might actually be able to pull this off,” said Mark Rodolico, owner of Mark’s at the Pointe Salon and Boutique. “All of a sudden it began to click.”
He isn’t sure what his dance is called, but says, “It’s got some elements of flamingo in it.”
According to Rodolico, instructor Sandra Redfield, owner of Zumba Works, is quite the linguist.
“Sometimes, she’ll begin talking to me in a foreign language and I just try to follow along with the footwork.
“The best part about it for me has been meeting some of the most intriguing people; talk about a powerhouse group. People like Doc Tremml, who I’ve learned to love and I’m honored to lose to. Even while he’s beating me, he’s helping to support my campaign. He’s awesome. Just go down the list – they’re all just incredible people.”
Rodolico held a successful fund raiser in December, despite its being on, “probably the rainiest, darkest day of the year.”
The event’s highpoint was when photographer Allan Teger donated one of his Bodyscapes pieces for auction.
“This is a guy I’ve admired since I was an adolescent. My lovely wife bought the piece for me; she had to outbid Tremml for it.”
- Glenn Tremml
“My wife has been involved with fundraising for over 20 years but this is my first go at it,” said Dr. Glenn Tremml. “I’ve done volunteer work my whole life, but was never the one who had to go about and ask for gifts. When they said you’re going to have to get up on stage and dance in front of 800 people that was ok. When they said you’re going to have to go out and raise money, my hands went cold.”
Tremml is paired with last year’s winning instructor Karren Walter of the Indian River Ballroom.
“I’m not a dancer, but I would say I’m an athlete and fairly coordinated and I have a lot of confidence that if I’m taught to do something I can physically learn it.”
“Karren asked me if I wanted to try something romantic and I thought that would be fun. After about 10 minutes of doing the bolero, Karren and my wife started laughing.”
But of the energetic quick step, Tremml said, “We went racing across the floor pretty fast and when we got to the other side I was smiling. Everyone pretty much agreed that was more my style.”
The next step was to pick music and Karren told him, “You’re going to hear this a lot so you better like it.”
He has taken a strategic fund-raising approach, with a plan and specific goals.
“The fun part is I’ve gotten to meet all these brand new babies and families,” said Tremml, having gone on home and hospital visits with Healthy Start.
“As an ER physician, I see people when they’re the least happy. This is the complete opposite. When I visit people with the Healthy Start program they are very happy and are at a high point. The first day that you bring your baby home it can be pretty scary. The new moms are so much more at ease after meeting people with TLC [Healthy Start’s TLC Newborn Program].”
- Melissa Shine
Melissa Shine had to postpone her dancing debut last year, but she had a pretty good excuse.
“We had started dance practice but then I found out I was pregnant; it would have been seven months the day of the event. I was supposed to do the Lindy hop with lifts and flips – that wasn’t going to work with a big belly.”
While excited to be asked again, Shine said, “It’s a little bit harder this year with a baby at home, but I’m doing it. I have a soft spot for children and babies and feel they deserve a good chance at life. A lot of them are born into situations that make it difficult to succeed.
“We’re doing a lot of different things in our 2 1/2 minutes; lifts, dips, and turns,” said Shine of the waltz she will perform with Barry Trammel, owner of Vero Classical Ballet.
She was hoping to find the all-important dress soon, adding, “You have to start practicing with your dress. We’re doing a lot of lifts where a dress could potentially get in the way.”
“I’m anxious and excited and nervous. I think it’s going to be a great event. All my competitors are practicing away and raising their money. I think we’re all going to be neck and neck at the end.”
There isn’t much time to practice at home, but she admits to occasionally waltzing around the room with their other daughter Lola, age 3 1/2.
“She really is a dancer; she actually has talent.”
“It’s been a lot of fun. I’m very glad I could do it to help Healthy Start give everybody a healthy start. They do so many things. Some new mothers don’t even know how to put a diaper on. Their services are very much needed.”
- Stacey Miller
“The dancing is coming great,” said Stacey Miller. She and partner Robert Scott, owner of Indian River Ballroom, are dancing the bolero.
“I’ve danced my whole life but I was more of a modern, lyrical dancer. When I first agreed to do this, I was little anxious about it; it’s a different style and footwork. It’s like being fluent in Spanish when someone is speaking to you in Greek. I was clueless. It was like starting from square one.
“I knew it was going to be different, I just didn’t know how different. I think it’s been different for Robert Scott too. God Bless him; he’s the kindest man. He has a very kind way of stressing that I’m supposed to be doing something other than what I’m doing.”
Her fund-raising approach has been more towards funding the organization rather than the party, by informing people about what Healthy Start does.
“I think it’s such an amazing service that they provide in this community. I heard some amazing testimonials from people who have received services from Healthy Start, and it’s across the board. They fill such a huge need in our whole community.”
“I spoke with one woman who had an infant with issues from a premature birth. With something like that, your friends are just as devastated as you are, and are not able to give the kind of support that you need. Healthy Start was very involved and on-task with her. It just filled my heart. If our children are healthy and they have a good foundation coming into this life, we have a better chance of the next generation being good adults; good stewards of the community.”
