Westfield Centennial Lion’s Club banner. (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – Want to dance away the winter blues for a good cause? The Westfield Centennial Lion’s Club will present an afternoon of dancing to benefit Diabetes Research at a Dance Showcase Feb. 16 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Shaker Farms Country Club.
The Dance Showcase will begin with a 15 – 20 minute lesson in one of the ballroom dances, including hustle, tango, fox trot, country or Latin. The lesson will be taught by instructor Jeanette LoPresti.
The lesson will be followed by general dancing for all in a variety of styles, accompanied by DJ Gary Francis, coordinator of the event and also a dance teacher.
Intermixed with the general dancing will be the ballroom dance showcase, in which couples who sign up will demonstrate a dance style of their choice, by themselves, for 90 seconds.
“The idea is to display, showcase, what you’ve been learning,” Francis said. He said last year 14 couples signed up for the showcase, which he stressed is not a competition. He said dancers look for sponsors, and the Lion’s Club looks for sponsors.
“We held one last year which was very successful,” Francis added, saying approximately 200 people attended.
The Dance Showcase has been one of the Westfield Centennial Lions Club’s more successful ventures, along with a golf tournament which will be held in October at East Mountain Country Club this year, according to Westfield Centennial Lion’s Club member Stan Konefal.
Konefal said the Club, which started three years ago this month, is still a young organization, and is always looking for new members. He said their mission is to raise money for eyesight, diabetes research, hearing, nutrition and the environment.
Prior to forming the Westfield Centennial Lion’s Club, there had been no Lion’s Club in Westfield in recent memory, he said.
Konefal said while some of the dancers that participated in the showcase last year dressed in costume, 90% of the people who attended were dressed more casually.
Admission is $10. There will be raffle prizes, light finger foods and a cash bar. For more information on the Dance Showcase, contact Gary Francis at 413-562-1346, and follow Westfield Centennial Lion’s Club on Facebook.
