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<p>WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP &#8212; &#8220;Swing dancing is near and dear to my heart. It&#8217;s what I did when I was young, years ago. I love to watch people doing it well,&#8221; judge Kevin Costley said before holding up the &#8220;9&#8221; paddle, indicating that&#8217;s how many points he was awarding contestants Bruce Lefkowitz and Cathie Julius.</p><p>&#8220;I was watching your feet. I was so impressed,&#8221; said judge Carolyn Blackburne who, along with fellow judges Holly Pilcavage and Beth Connor, also each gave Lefkowitz and Julius a 9 on Saturday evening</p><p>With 36 points from the judges, Lefkowitz and Julius won the third annual Dancing With the Stars of Wilkes-Barre &#8212; a fund-raiser to benefit KISS Theatre &#8212; for their swing dance, which they performed to the song &#8220;Simply Irresistible.&#8221;</p><p>As if that wasn&#8217;t exciting enough, the announcers soon revealed Lefkowitz and Julius had also won the People&#8217;s Choice Award, which was decided by a $1-per-vote contest. (The team of Ed Ciarimboli and Mary Siejak came in a close second for People&#8217;s Choice.)</p><p>&#8220;I thought it was great, so rewarding,&#8221; Lefkowitz said, describing the &#8220;Dancing With the Stars of Wilkes-Barre&#8221; experience during a telephone interview on Monday. &#8220;It was good mentally and physically to get together and practice, and my teacher was very patient with me.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I found it amusing that he thought I was patient,&#8221; Julius said. &#8220;Patience is not one of my virtues. I think he picked up very fast and has some natural talent that made him very easy to work with. I couldn&#8217;t have asked for a better partner.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I had a lot of support from friends and family and co-workers from the pharmacy,&#8221; added Lefkowitz, who is a third-generation owner and pharmacist at Harrold&#8217;s Pharmacy in Wilkes-Barre. Even though he was &#8220;way out of my comfort zone&#8221; at the beginning of eight weeks of rehearsals, Lefkowitz said, he enjoyed dancing so much he may study it further.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m inspired,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The annual KISS Theatre fund-raiser is styled after ABC&#8217;s &#8220;Dancing With the Stars&#8221; televised competition, which pairs celebrities who typically have little or no dance experience with professional dancers.</p><p>&#8220;I thought this was our best year yet for dancing,&#8221; event organizer Bridget Barno said. &#8220;All of our contestants were on top of their game and the judges were tough on them.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We were blessed to have Julie Sidoni from Channel 16 as one of our hosts,&#8221; Barno said. &#8220;She does such a good job, and Dave Reynolds added the KISS flair. It was nice to have the two of them.&#8221;</p><p>Organizers should know in a week or so how much money the event raised for KISS Theatre, an organization that welcomes youth ages 4 through 18, including those with special needs and those who require financial assistance, to participate in its busy schedule of theatrical experiences.</p><p>&#8220;We have &#8216;101 Dalmatians&#8217; in two weeks with our &#8216;littles,&#8217; &#8221; Barno said. &#8220;Our &#8216;middles&#8217; are working on &#8216;Mary Poppins&#8217; and our &#8216;seniors&#8217; are getting their roles in &#8216;Little Women&#8217; this week.&#8221;</p><p>Other contestants who took part in Dancing With the Stars of Wilkes-Barre were Freddie Fabbri with Lindsey Cronauer, Anne Rodella with Michael Marone, Kyle Reed with Amber McKenna, Kimberly McLendon with Sean Bromiley and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins mascot TUX, with Marikate Sullivan.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Local pharmacist Bruce Lefkowitz and his dance instructor, Cathie Julius, won the Judges&#8217; Choice and People&#8217;s Choice trophies on Saturday evening during the Dancing With the Stars of Wilkes-Barre competition. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_bruce.and_.cathie.trophies.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Local pharmacist Bruce Lefkowitz and his dance instructor, Cathie Julius, won the Judges&#8217; Choice and People&#8217;s Choice trophies on Saturday evening during the Dancing With the Stars of Wilkes-Barre competition. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.ed_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Local attorney Ed Ciarimboli and his dance partner Mary Siejak came in second for the People&#8217;s Choice Award. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.ed_.jpg</photo1><caption1>Local attorney Ed Ciarimboli and his dance partner Mary Siejak came in second for the People&#8217;s Choice Award. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.anne_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Anne Rodella from the F.M. Kirby Center and her instructor Michael Marone danced a disco medley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.anne_.jpg</photo2><caption2>Anne Rodella from the F.M. Kirby Center and her instructor Michael Marone danced a disco medley. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.tux_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">TUX, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins mascot, danced with Marikate Sullivan. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.tux_.jpg</photo3><caption3>TUX, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins mascot, danced with Marikate Sullivan. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photo </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars5_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Radio personality Fast Freddie Fabbri danced with Lindsey Cronauer. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars5_.jpg</photo4><caption4>Radio personality Fast Freddie Fabbri danced with Lindsey Cronauer. </caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photo </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Celebrity chef Kimberly McLendon danced with Sean Bromiley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars_.6.jpg</photo5><caption5>Celebrity chef Kimberly McLendon danced with Sean Bromiley. </caption5><photoCredit5>Submitted photo </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars7_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Karate champion and owner of Nepa Mixed Martial Arts Kyle Reed danced with Amber McKenna. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dancing.stars7_.jpg</photo6><caption6>Karate champion and owner of Nepa Mixed Martial Arts Kyle Reed danced with Amber McKenna. </caption6><photoCredit6>Submitted photo </photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Pharmacist tops with judges, people&#8217;s choice</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Taking home all the trophies