DANCING WITH THE BARTLESVILLE STARS

Good morning, good morning, good morning, welcome, welcome, welcome time now for our community connection right here on Gay one, the one you trust. Put on your dance and shoes. I wish I could sing. People would be amazed anyway, But these folks can dance. And we're talking about past independence and we've got dancing with the Bartlesfield Stars. We have Haley cunning Him. Hello, Haley, you have Brett Butler, and we also have Larry Thrash. How you guys doing

Yeah, just set in the tone early. I thought i'd wear my champion gold chain. Just let them know what's going to happen this weekend. Brent Butler work at Conico Phelps and my dancing partner is Lodonna Chancellor. She's the head of education something like that.

Executive director of teaching and learning. Yes, yes, at Bartlesville Public Schools. I had to say that ten times before I got it right. You never had to write it on the school block. I learned a few. But anyway, you guys are gonna be spinning a little bit and having a good time.

Absolutely, we will have a good time spinning, hopefully not falling down. So neither one of us are dancers, so it'll be funny, at.

Least fun for us, funny for you maybe because I don't think the book's gonna be laughing at you. They'll be laughing with you, maybe at or with it doesn't matter to me. Hayley, tell us about your escapades here.

Yeah, So Trudy Credit Union asked me to help out, so I'm very excited to be able to represent them. I'm partnered with Clay Tait, so we have been a hoot and a half.

We have. However tall he is six three or something like six.

Nine, quite a guy, and then I'm I'm raining in right there at five foot, so we've got quite the dynamic of the big and little and we are ready to roll.

For sure.

Dancing maybe not our skill, but we can have a good time as well.

Well. Really, that's what it's all about, it putting on a show and having fun. Larry, tell us a little bit about what you're up to.

Well, as most of you may know, my partner Margo Proctor. Every time I say your name, people just smile and start laughing because they know Margo from various things. We've been practicing hard. We've really been working at it. Mark Haskell and Debbie've let us use their law for our practice facility, and we've been in there working hard. We may be in the same boat as these two. It may be more comedic than artistic. It's what we plan to do. And I was just thinking today, you know,

Is that you can vote for us.

Oh really, For example, if you gave a thousand dollars in our name like Margo and Larry, if you gave in our name, that's worth a thousand votes.

Wow.

But Past Independence, you really believe in their mission and their vision.

They do such a great job.

They have about seventy five students now, which people just are amazed that they can take care of that many kids that are on the autism spectrum. And so it's a great fundraiser for them. I understand that we're already close to one hundred and ten thousand dollars raised.

It's good start.

It's sold out for all of the meals and the tables within about a week. So they've opened it up.

Now we're going to be in.

The Community Center in the auditorium for the dance part.

Wow.

They're selling tickets for that, and there's also streaming. It's going to be streamed, so you can go on past the Independence website and there's a link where you can for fifty dollars you can get streaming so you can watch it and continue to watch it, and if you've already donated, you can go in and I think still get a streaming ticket.

So I don't know.

It's just a good program. And I think all three of us and maybe our partners are ready for November tenth, because this November night, this Saturday.

Okay, Champ, tell us what drew you into this.

I can't say no to kids, anything to help out children. I'm all four, and especially education. I come from a family full of teachers, and just being able to help the community and raise some money for these kids that deserve, you know, an inclusive place that they can get the best education possible and it's all formatted and formulated just for them, and there's no other place like it in the world. So we got to give them all the

What was your draw?

Yeah, I was asked to partici and I'm actually my husband previously participated and he did an okay job, but I'm here to hopefully kind of beat him out from his previous fundraising efforts. But really, just we have such a gym here in Barbsville, so to be able to participate and assist with their fundraising efforts is just such an honor to be a part of that and really hopefully make a difference for them and the students.

You know, with Pats for Independence, the school is so much highly sought my parents, with the children on the autism in spectrum, that parents will pick up and move to Bartlesfield just because of the school because it offers so much more than what they can get in the communities where they reside. And of course bart Bartlesfield is a great place to live too, so yeah, but having this in our hometown is well worth protecting and keeping

Yeah, yeah, Yeah, it's been really great.

I'm excited to see the streaming efforts and the transition to the auditorium. It really just kind of allows us to have a bigger audience, which only means more funds for.

The school, which is so neat. So I know there's plenty of tickets still available for that.

I don't think we're scared of dancing in front of a few more people, hopefully anything more than ten is just more. So we're excited to hopefully continue to share the word and have some people vote, hopefully donate, and even just participate in the awesome fundraising that we get to do.

Now, Larry, this is going to be a little bit different because you are moving into the big room this year. Now, this is the big stage. We need to fill up that auditorium. It's got two thousand seats. We need to fill her up. Now. What would you got up your sleep?

Well, really nothing. We are excited. I just want to kind of follow up on one of the things you said. I know of a family that moved Tomorrowsville. They have two children on the autism spectrum. They got jobs here and moved here specifically for the school. So not only is it helping the kids, that's helping the parents. Obviously that's a full time job in itself if you have children on the autism spectrum and so, but it's also helping our community. And so, I don't know, it's just

And like Hallie.

Said, you know, they had to make room for more people because it's sold out so quickly.

Well, this is great. It's a good problem to have, isn't it. Absolutely.

I need two thousands of two thousands of my closest friends to come out and laugh at us and spend some of their hard dollars and just to piggyback off him. I know a family that moved here as well. They have two children. It's probably not the same people, but their children weren't getting the education and the assistance that they.

Needed where they lived.

They were nonverbal, you know, very very autistic. They can moved up here, started going to Past Independence and they the school works miracles and now they're saying mom and dad and you know, using the bathroom, and you know, it's just amazing the growth that those two children have had, and just to see them their kind of world open up just because of these new skills and experiences that they have, it's amazing.

What they do is just incredible.

Yeah, and just getting their needs met in their most individualistic way, which is what Past Independence does, is so cool and so needed.

He we're already working on getting this globe thing going on?

What's thatpp?

How already working to get this trophy?

Well, I'm working pretty hard. I got Clay is running some laps. I keep him.

His wife is choreographing for us, so she's kept us whipped into shape. Really hoping to do some dancing. Both Clay and I's professionals. Dancing skills are about wedding receptions.

That's about all we've got. Yep. I did Top when I was six years old for one year.

So we've got a lot up our sleeves here, a lot of experience to build us up and have some good skills all.

Right, what about you? My dancing is middle aged dad skill level.

You know, a lot of shopping cart wheelbarrow, lawnmower, the water sprinkler, so pretty professional. I've been trying to learn Australian break dancing, so uh.

No, now you'll break something.

Yeah, yeah, poor hammy, but uh yeah, I'm a terrible dancer. But it'll be a lot of fun there.

You we know that you've got a studio going on here. You and miss Proctor. Now, now how hard you been going at it here? What do you got going?

We've been going at it really hard.

Uh.

Stacey Lard is our choreographer, and she has a difficult time with us. It's uh, we don't follow the rules very well and we don't take directions really well, and she is working really hard to whip us into shape.

How's her patience going?

Uh?

She gets a little frustrated at times, but she handles.

It well with dignity and clad with absolutely anything.

Uh.

But yeah, it's it's been a fun, fun trip.

Uh, you know, just enjoyed getting Margan and I have been friends for several years, but getting to know her a little better and then we have some other things that are we have planned. Uh so it should be entertaining.

Look how cool he's playing this off.

I'll tell you Tom they have when.

When they pick him, they have a pro and a star. They got messed up on their.

Spreadsheet because they put me down as the pro and so you know we're in trouble.

All three pros.

Yeah, we're in the pros, the pro.

Group, Pro heavy heavy quotation, I'm.

Close to a pro.

Wow, my goodness, Eke, I'm humbled in your presence. But folks, you can go to the pt I page good paths. Just look them up on the on the Google and they'll direct you right there. It's really easy to navigate the page. They'll tell you where to find the dancing and they'll tell you where to find where you can place your votes.

Yeah for playing Haley, Brent Butler and Madonna Chancellors.

And remember you can vote as often as you want, for many people as you want. So if you know you got eight thousand dollars for Bridge, right, well you got eight hundred, spread it out.

We're going to need some votes because we're going to need some help with with our votes.

Well, we're going to have a good time and that's really what it's all about as we help out Pads to Independence, a jewel in our community. I want to thank you all for sacrificing your time, your talent, and maybe even some of your tendons for putting this all together and putting up a great night of entertainment. Now it's coming up this weekend, November ninth Saturday. So if you don't have your tickets now, you better get them