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    Dancing with the Stars Lander & Riverton raised over $80K for Community Entry Services Saturday

    (Lander, WY) – The 8th annual Dancing with the Stars Lander & Riverton event once again packed the Lander Community Center Saturday night, with this year’s show totalling over $80,000 in funds raised for Community Entry Services (CES).

    The teams share the stage for the end of the night awards. h/t Vince Tropea

    According to numbers being tallied at the end of the evening, around $39k of that total was in tickets sales, and around $43k was from online donations. The $43k is especially amazing when you consider the fact that at the beginning of the evening that number was around $4,200.

    The donations were once again thanks to the effort of the dancing teams and their sponsors, which this year included:

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    • Haylee Cole and Daniel Barnes (sponsored by Bailey Tire and Auto Service)
    • Crystal Hastings and Courtney Widhalm (sponsored by Lander Body Works and Schurg Financial Services)
    • Matt Hartman and Charene Herrera (sponsored by High Mountain Seasonings)
    • Hunter Bradshaw and Maycee Manzanares (sponsored by Teton Therapy)
    • Austin Penny and Hayley Heidt (sponsored by Wyoming Catholic College)
    • Regan Marynowski and Alison McIntosh (sponsored by Home Source Realty)

    MC’ing once again this year was the CEO for CES, Shawn Griffin, joined by audience MC’s Julie Buller and Commissioner Mike Jones.

    Acting as judges were former dancing competitors Melinda Cox, Vince Tropea and Rusty Harris, who definitely had a difficult time judging with all the exceptional showmanship from the dancers.

    Before the final deliberations were shared, attendees were treated to a moving video that profiled CES and local Lander legend David Dempster, where they got see exactly how the funds raised are utilized to help folks like David live a quality and independent life.

    A moment of recognition was also given to DWTS alum Chrissy Alley, who wowed attendees last year but tragically passed away shortly after last year’s competition.

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    Following the emotional moments of the event, folks were also treated to a very special performance from some past competitions (Gayle Kinney, Melissa Federer, Amy Federer, Amanda McIntyre, special guests), which involved a medley of famous tunes, wind and fog machines, multiple outfit changes and a truly absurd amount of confetti.

    Following a short break, it was time for the awards to be given for Client, Audience and Judge favorites.

    Winning both the Client and Audience Favorite awards were showstoppers Maycee and Hunter, while Regan and Alison nabbed the Judge’s favorite for their performances, which varied from technical in the first dance to downright hilarious for their Napoleon Dynamite recreation.

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    Congratulations to the winners, and to all the other dancers, attendees, volunteers and donors for another amazing/fun year of dancing for a great cause.

    If you were unable to attend but still want to help make a difference, please consider donating to CES at ces-usa.com/donate!

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