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Corpus Christi Parish hosting big prize bingo

Wilkes to present lecture on Irish Americans in the 19th Century

<p>WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP &#8212; When David Pedri arrived at KISS Theatre on a recent Thursday evening, he spotted Amanda Davies clutching a mirror ball trophy &#8212; one of four to be awarded Nov. 5 during a &#8220;Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre&#8221; fund-raiser.</p><p>Davies held it out for him to admire, and Pedri acted like a medieval knight spotting the holy grail.</p><p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t touch it. We can only gaze upon it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We can&#8217;t touch it until we earn it.&#8221;</p><p>The joking continued as Pedri &#8212; whom most people know as Luzerne County&#8217;s manager &#8212; expressed confidence he would bring home a trophy from the competition, which involves eight local &#8220;celebrities&#8221; and their professional dancing partners/coaches.</p><p>&#8220;I already dusted off a nice space for it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I had to move my children&#8217;s pictures out of the way, but what&#8217;s more important?&#8221;</p><p>Taking gentle jabs at some of his competition, Pedri continued: &#8220;I tripped on a rock the other day in Wilkes-Barre, and since Tony Brooks is on the Wilkes-Barre City Council, I think he put that rock there. If not for my cat-like reflexes, I could have been hurt &#8230; and Lori Nocito? She <em>said</em> she&#8217;s been on a trip to Africa, but I think she was really off practicing.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of trash talking going on,&#8221; Davies said with a laugh, admitting that&#8217;s part of the fun of the event, which she is helping to organize to benefit the non-profit KISS Theatre.</p><p>Even before the event takes place, at 7 p.m. Saturday in the KISS Theatre&#8217;s space in the East End Centre, fans can vote for their favorite dance team at dancingstarsofwilkesbarre.com/vote. Each dollar they donate equals one vote and will count toward the People&#8217;s Choice Award.</p><p>During the competition judges Sharla McBride from WNEP-TV, Dr. Susan Sordoni from Volunteers in Medicine, Barbara Woronko-Anzalone from NEPA Academy of Dancing and Cassie Cerulli from David Blight School of Dance will score the contestants for the Judges&#8217; Award.</p><p>&#8220;We might hide paddles 1 through 7,&#8221; Davies said, meaning the teams would receive only high scores of 8 through 10.</p><p>In addition to Pedri, who is dancing with instructor Allison Romanski from Spotlight Dance Studio of Pittston, contenders include Scott Colin, artistic director of Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, who will be dancing with Beth Connor, founder of Perfect Harmony Center for the Arts in Kingston.</p><p>Colin, of Larksville, said he considers himself an actor first, a singer second and a dancer third.</p><p>&#8220;At least he <em>has</em> dancing on the list,&#8221; attorney Sarah Borland said, describing herself as having &#8220;no dance experience whatsoever, not even ballet lessons when I was a little kid.&#8221;</p><p>Despite her lack of experience, Borland said she&#8217;s really enjoying learning the tango from Andrew McGee at Perfect Harmony. &#8220;I&#8217;m really excited about this,&#8221; she said.</p><p>So is assistant Luzerne County district attorney Jarrett Ferentino, who has been diligently practicing a jive to the tune of &#8220;Good Golly, Miss Molly&#8221; and &#8220;Devil With the Blue Dress&#8221; with Lindsey Cronauer at the David Blight School of Dance.</p><p>&#8220;As I get older, I try to do things I never did before,&#8221; said Ferentino, who is 38.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s very competitive,&#8221; Cronauer said, adding Ferentino really wants to beat Pedri, whom he has known for a long time.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a friendly competition,&#8221; Ferentino said.</p><p>But you never know who might have an advantage. Consider Walter Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Financial Group, co-founder of KISS Theater and long-time actor in community theater who will be waltzing with Joanna Bryn Smith.</p><p>&#8220;I enjoy dancing very much, but I always need remedial help from the choreographer in any show in which I&#8217;m asked to dance,&#8221; Mitchell said modestly. Still, he recalls learning to waltz and foxtrot when he was in eighth grade, and earning a prize as &#8220;best dancer in my class.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if what I learned in eighth grade will be of any help,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but they say your muscle memory stays with you, like riding a bike.&#8221;</p><p>So, maybe other dancers will have to watch out for Walter.</p><p>Or for Lori Nocito, executive director of Leadership Wilkes-Barre, whom many remember dancing onstage in Little Theatre&#8217;s production of &#8220;Chicago.&#8221; She&#8217;s partnered with Michael Brown, founder of Arts In Movement Academy of Dance, in Taylor.</p><p>Or for Ranae Smigiel, a hairstylist at Alexander&#8217;s Salon in Scranton, whose instructor, Dan Pittman, has designed a swing/jazz routine. &#8220;She&#8217;s doing amazing,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Or for Tony Brooks, member of Wilkes-Barre City Council. &#8220;We want to surprise people,&#8221; he said, offering few clues about the dance he will perform with Mary Siejak from the Degnan Ballet Center in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>He did say he will wear a leather jacket and sunglasses during the dance, and that Siejak&#8217;s classical ballet training will be evident &#8212; at least in her part of the dance.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dance instructor Allison Romanski and Luzerne County Manager Dave Pedri practice their swing dance routine for the &#8216;Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre&#8217; fundraiser. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_ttl103016danicnigforkiss-5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dance instructor Allison Romanski and Luzerne County Manager Dave Pedri practice their swing dance routine for the &#8216;Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre&#8217; fundraiser. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_sar2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Attorney Sarah Borland and her instructor, Andrew McGree, from Perfect Harmony Center for the Arts, in Kingston, are working on a tango for the &#8216;Dancing With the Stars&#8217; of Wilkes-Barre event. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_sar2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Attorney Sarah Borland and her instructor, Andrew McGree, from Perfect Harmony Center for the Arts, in Kingston, are working on a tango for the &#8216;Dancing With the Stars&#8217; of Wilkes-Barre event. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_sar3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Learning the tango from instructor Andrew McGee is exciting and fun, attorney Sarah Borland said. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_sar3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Learning the tango from instructor Andrew McGee is exciting and fun, attorney Sarah Borland said. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_ttl103016dancingforkiss-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">&#8216;I forget everything you taught me last time,&#8221; David Pedri said to his teacher, Allison Romanski. &#8216;I hope not,&#8217; she responded. Turns out, he was just kidding. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_ttl103016dancingforkiss-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>&#8216;I forget everything you taught me last time,&#8221; David Pedri said to his teacher, Allison Romanski. &#8216;I hope not,&#8217; she responded. Turns out, he was just kidding. </caption3><photoCredit3>Amanda Hrycyna|For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_jarrett-006.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Assistant Luzerne County District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino is practicing a jive dance with Lindsey Cronauer at David Blight School of Dance. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_jarrett-006.jpg</photo4><caption4>Assistant Luzerne County District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino is practicing a jive dance with Lindsey Cronauer at David Blight School of Dance. </caption4><photoCredit4>Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>&#8216;Dancing With the Wilkes-Barre Stars&#8217; to benefit KISS Theatre</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Dancing Stars of Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> KISS Theatre, 400 East End Centre, Wilkes-Barre Township</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7 p.m. Nov. 5 with complimentary cocktail, appetizers and desserts; cash bar. Age 21 and older</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $40, $20.</p><p><strong>Info:</strong> dancingstarsofwilkesbarre.com or 570-829-1901.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Dancing With the Wilkes-Barre Stars’ will benefit KISS Theatre