Saturday, November 7 was the second annual Stars over Macon Ball. This event is co-sponsored by the Medcen Foundation and USA Dance Greater Macon Chapter #6059 and it benefits Hospice of Central Georgia. For the second year in a row we had a great turnout, fantastic music by the Celebration Band, beautiful décor (put together by volunteers including yours truly!), and some amazing dance exhibitions. The unstoppable Eddie Ares brought two couples to Macon to show us how it’s done: Joe Locurto and his amateur partner Lynne Riddle; and a young professional couple, Jeremy Norris and Emily Loyless. Eddie also agreed–swayed by raucous audience participation–to return to Macon and give us a workshop in 2010. Exciting!
As fantastic as the whole event was, for me the highlight was seeing Fran Kirsh recognized for her hard work on Stars over Macon and her dedication to ballroom dancing. Since her back surgery in August she has not made it onto the dancefloor, but she was at the ball in a well-deserved blaze of glory. Her hard work in 2008 made the first Stars over Macon possible. Now it is on its way to being a gorgeous tradition, and the Hospice House is on its way to completion.
How about some pictures?
UPDATE: I talked to Paula East this afternoon. Our chapter and the Medcen Foundation have set the date for Stars over Macon in 2010. It will be October 23. Mark your calendar!