Sarnia Dancing With the Stars returns March 30

This year’s Sarnia Dancing With the Stars will benefit Ohana Landing, a youth supportive housing program in the city.

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The annual night of ballroom dancing pairing dance instructors with local celebrities is now set for May 25 at 6 pm at the Four Points Sheraton hotel on Venetian Boulevard. Previously, it had been scheduled for March 30.

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“In order to maximize fundraising proceeds for Ohana landing and ticket sales, we have decided to postpone the event until May 25,” said organizer Eve Morgan-Langille. “We hope this extra time to support the event will contribute to it’s success.”

A different local charity is selected each year, said Morgan-Langille, a former contestant who has organized the event for more than five years.

“It is exactly like the television show, where audience votes and judges’ votes come up with the winner,” she said.

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“It can be a bit of a challenge,” for her and the instructors to come up with local celebrity contestants, Morgan-Langille said. “There is a time commitment.”

Typically, the instructors and celebrities practice regularly for six to eight weeks to come up with two dances to perform at the event, which “can be a little nerve racking,” she said.

“It’s quite the process getting up there and dancing in front of a room full of people,” Morgan-Langille said. “But we’ve got some really great stars this year.”

They are Carrie McEachran, chief executive of the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce, musician Scott Manery, Dr. Khalid Al-Saadon of the Sarnia Anti-Aging Clinic and Steve Levack with The Tax Force, who have been paired with instructors Nancy Michieli, Vasco Michieli, Caroline Irwin and Michelle Mitchell.

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“All four (celebrities) were ready and eager to go,” Morgan-Langille said.

“By the end of it, they all know how to boogie,” she said. “It’s one of those things that once you learn, you want to continue. . . it’s almost infectious.”

In addition to learning ballroom and Latin dance skills, the celebrities know their hard work will help a local charity, she said.

The event, which also raises money from sponsors and a silent auction, raises between $7,000 and $9,000, all of which stays in Sarnia.

“Ohana Landing just seemed like a really good charity,” Morgan-Langille said. “It is about affordable and safe housing for youth who are homeless, or on the verge of homelessness, right here in our community.”

Past beneficiaries include the Women’s Interval Home, Community Concerns for the Medically Fragile and the Alzheimer Society, she said.

Tickets, $75 plus fees, are available online at eventbrite.com.

“We’re hoping to have 200 people there watching,” Morgan-Langille said.

This year’s competition will feature a raised stage with the audience seated on all four sides, she said. “Every seat. . . is a good seat.”

Morgan-Langille said she’s still seeking a sponsor for sparking wine served to audience members arriving for the event.

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