Look Who’s Pulling Ahead in Take the Lead Winston-Salem

April 28, 2010 - PRLog -- WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  — This week, be sure to check out Guy Arcuri’s smack-talking videos, Karen McNeil-Miller’s “Old-School Style” training tips, and Ann Holton Guill’s natural grace, which have put these dancers at the top of the voting leader board. With 3,000 total votes cast at http://www.taketheleadws.com/ and just eight remaining days to vote, the competition among the 17 talented dancing “stars” in Winston-Salem’s Take the Lead fundraising event is getting tight. The participants are raising money for the Bethesda Center for the Homeless, the largest emergency day and night shelter for men and women in Forsyth County.

“My very first award for dancing was at the eighth grade dance when I won a Leo Sayer album,” says Arcuri, who is dancing with Terri Butcher of Baylin Dance Studio in Clemmons.  “Of course, it was my only dance award, but who’s counting? I have a secret weapon anyway, as you’ll see in my latest video posted at www.taketheleadws.com.”

Will Arcuri’s Rocky-inspired workouts and his secret weapon (hint: think “Avatar”) be enough to catapult him ahead of current leader Karen McNeil-Miller, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust Foundation, and her partner, Curtis Lipscomb, a counselor at the Children’s Home?  Or perhaps Ann Holton Guill, the director of Dancing Classrooms North Carolina, and her partner David Piner, executive director of Arbor Acres — a pair that has been dancing together since they were teenagers — will end up as the winning vote-getters. Right now, anyone can literally Take the Lead.

Inside sources say Take the Lead fans should not count out Jen Averill, Wake Forest University field hockey coach. She is calling on all true Wake Forest fans to vote for her and her partner Robert Simpson, director of the Biltmore Dance Studio.  In her very entertaining, vote-encouraging video, Averill channels the stars of the popular 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.”  “I’d like to respond to Guy
Arcuri’s trash talking,” she says in her video. “Let me tell you something — nobody, and I mean nobody, puts Baby in a corner.”

Another top contender is Greg White, a resident of Bethesda Center and former dancer on the popular television show “Soul Train.”  White and his partner Kathy Zagoria have made their own video showcasing the people and facilities at Bethesda Center where they practice.  And close on their dancing heels are Mayor Allen Joines, Copey Hanes, Hilary Kosloske, Miriam Hernandez, Anna Ball Hodge, Kevin Miller, Kenny O’Neal, Suzanne Ramm, Cheri Van Loon and Busta Brown.  

As these dancers are demonstrating, the Winston-Salem community is having a lot of fun with Take the Lead, and everyone is working hard to achieve the serious goal of raising $100,000 for the Bethesda Center. Bethesda served more than 600 of the community’s homeless during 2009, and has assisted nearly 200 men and women in moving from shelters into their own housing during the last three years. The dancing “stars” are raising money by recruiting friends, family members and others in the community to purchase $10 online votes — the cost to Bethesda Center of providing one day and night’s shelter, supplies and food.

To meet the Take the Lead dancers and view their hilarious videos, visit www.taketheleadws.com, where you can also vote online and purchase tickets for the finale on May 6, 7:30 p.m., at the Embassy Suites downtown. There is no limit to the number of times or the number of dancers an individual can vote for, and voting continues until the evening of the final event. All of the dancers will perform at the finale, and the pair of dancers with the most votes will be named winners of Take the Lead. Tickets to the event are $25 per person and can be purchased online or by contacting Clyde Manning, director of development for Bethesda Center for the Homeless at (336) 722-9951, ext 414.

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About Bethesda Center for the Homeless
Bethesda Center for the Homeless is the largest emergency    shelter for men and women in Forsyth County. Bethesda served more than 600 of the community’s homeless during 2009, and has assisted nearly 200 men and women in moving from shelters into their own housing during the last three years. Visit www.bethesdacenter.org.

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LMW Media Relations & Marketing Inc. is a public relations and marketing firm in Winston-Salem, N.C., specializing in retirement, health care, technology and education. For more information, visit www.lmwmediarelations.com.