CRESTVIEW — By day, they’re doctors, an accountant and a funeral director. By night, they’re out on the dance floor or in the community raising money for Covenant Hospice.
They’re this year’s Crestview Dancing Stars, members of the professional community who voluntarily display their ballroom dancing skills — or lack thereof — during the Oct. 4 Covenant Hospice Blue Jean Ball.
Optometrist Dr. Wanda Batson, Joel Davis of Davis-Watkins Funeral Home, gastroenterologist Dr. Khalid Moussa, and certified accountant Stephanie Overstreet are busily raising money while learning dance steps at the Crestview Fred Astaire Dance Studio.
“We’re hoping for $12,000 this year,” coordinator Bonnie Grundel said. “We set a high goal.”
Last year, the ball’s Dancing with the Crestview Stars segment raised $10,000 for the hospice’s services from the stars’ solicitations of family, friends and business associates.
Davis, whose funeral home has supported the Blue Jean Ball every year since it was started eight years ago, said his dancing skills are minimal.
“I only danced at my wedding,” he said.
He’s hoping Fred Astaire instructor Hannah Kania will coach a good performance out of him. It’s a job she relishes.
“I love doing this so much,” Kania said. “To be a part of people's lives like this, to help raise donations for Covenant Hospice, it’s so amazing.”
Kania will also dance with Moussa, who praised the community’s professional dancers.
“They make you look good,” he said.
“I’m really excited,” instructor Augustine Smith, who is coaching Overstreet, said. “It’s good that we can use our skill like this to support Covenant Hospice.”
Fred Astaire owner David Colón said he grew up in a home with parents who were “always involved,” so “giving back to the community got to be a habit.”
Helping Covenant Hospice with annual fundraisers, including the spring Dance for Life dancing showcase, is easy, he said.
“We fell in love with their attitude toward the community, so we continue to work with them,” Colón said.
Grundel said this year’s Blue Jean Ball theme, “Arabian Nights,” embraces the “allure and opulence” of the romantic legends gathered from India, Persia and North Africa.
“It’s going to be beautiful and fun,” Grundel said. “It’s going to be lavish, with lots of colors and lots of fabric.”
WANT TO GO?
WHAT: “Arabian Nights” Covenant Hospice Blue Jean Ball
WHEN: 6 p.m. Oct. 4
WHERE: Crestview Community Center, 1446 Commerce Drive, opposite the library
TICKETS: $60 each; available at Covenant Hospice, 4100 Ferdon Blvd. S.; by phone, 682-3628; or at www.covenanthospice.org
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Joel Davis as Carl Davis in the photo caption.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘Crestview Dancing Stars’ prep for 'lavish' hospice benefit