Melissa Hunt and Parker Burr voted champions of local 'Dancing With the Stars' fundraiser

Photo by Michael Burke

TWO TO TANGO:
Parker Burr, 17, taught his former fourth-grade teacher Melissa Hunt, 44, now an Anderson City Council member, how to dance and the duo was named champions of ‘Dancing with the Stars Shasta County Style’ on Saturday, July 11.

Photo by George L. Winship, Editor

Anderson City Councilwoman Melissa Hunt, 44, and her dance partner Parker Burr, 17, a senior at Foothill High School, performed the salsa and tango Saturday night, July 11, during "Dancing With the Stars Shasta County Style," a fundraiser for Shasta Family YMCA's PlusOne Mentors program as well as the Shasta Women's Refuge. The pair, a former teacher and her ex-fourth-grade student-turned-dance-instructor, waltzed off with the championship trophy in front of at least 650 audience members at the Cascade Theatre in Redding.

Anderson City Councilwoman Melissa Hunt, 44, has another trophy to add to her collection.

The former Country Christian fourth-grade school teacher and her ex-student, Parker Burr, 17, now a senior at Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, received the title of champions Saturday, July 11, at "Dancing With the Stars Shasta County Style," a fundraiser for the Shasta Family YMCA's PlusONE Mentors program as well as the Shasta Women's Refuge.

"We worked very hard and there are a lot of people and businesses to thank for the championship," Hunt said of the award.

Parker Burr earned his dance instructor chops at Foothill High's "Club Cougar" dinner theater shows each of the last three years under the tutelage of professional dancer Kathy Babcock, who also choreographed the entire show and competed with District Attorney Jerry Benito. Babcock and Benito were eliminated after the first round.

Joining Hunt and Benito were four other local celebrities including Michelle Martin Streeby, marketing director of the Record Searchlight, State Farm Insurance agent Jeff Avery, Enjoy magazine's co-publisher Yvonne Mazzotta and KRCR-TV's chief meteorologist Mike Krueger.

Each of the celebrities were teamed with a young dancer to learn two complex dance numbers in just under three weeks.

"It was so much fun and just goes to show that hard work really does pay off," commented Burr, who competed for the first time against several more-seasoned dance professionals.

A panel of four judges -- the 2008 Champion Tracy Edwards of Redding Rancheria, radio personalities Don Burton and Patrick John, and former "Dean Martin Show" Gold Digger and professional recording artist Linda Regan-Bott.

Emcees for the evening were John Truitt of Viva Downtown and Chita Johnson, KRCR-TV's morning meteorologist.

An audience estimated by organizers at 650 strong each received one vote for their favorite dance couple, but were allowed to buy as many additional votes as they could afford. Three opportunities were given audience members to shove their voting tickets into the appropriate bucket.

"We did get a total of $4,718.51 yesterday as voting ticket income," explained Kristi Hanson, fund development manager for Shasta Women's Refuge.

Tickets sold for $1 each or 12 for $10. Each patron was also given one ticket at the door. Organizers weighed the tickets on a digital scale. Melissa Hunt's total weighed 16.2 ounces. Her total income included tickets purchased with two cash donations including a $500 check from the Anderson Wal-Mart SuperCenter and a $383.51 check from Mary’s Pizza Shack, also in Anderson.

Second place in fundraising went to Mike Krueger with 14.2 ounces of tickets. Jeff Avery’s total was 9.3 ounces, Yvonne Mazzotta had 9.1 ounces, Michelle Martin Streeby raised 5.8 ounces of tickets and Jerry Benito had a total of 4.6 ounces, Hanson said.

After the first round of dance, each pair performing a tango, Benito and Babcock were eliminated based on the judges' combined scores. Streeby and her professional dance partner, Jake Carver, were also eliminated on that round.

Both eliminated couples, however, were given an opportunity to dance their second number, a salsa, prior to resumption of the contest.

Starting off the second round, Kreuger and his professional dance partner, Andrea Zimmerman, did an inspired "Robot-style" rendition complete with moon walks, mechanical movements and eye-popping head snaps that had the audience and judges mesmerized. The prolonged applause and standing ovation was topped only by the unbroken series of "10" scores from each of the four judges.

For their dance efforts, Kreuger and Zimmerman received the "Judges Award" for best performance of the evening.

Avery and his partner, Julie Correia, received kudos from the emcees for their "shiny and colorful" costumes.

Between the first and second round of dancing, judge Burton and dancer Correia teamed up for a wonderful waltz.

And while the audience's votes were being tallied off stage after the second round of dances, Chita Johnson teamed up with Logan Grimes to reprise their crowd-pleasing dance to "It's Raining Men," a song written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer in 1979 and originally recorded by The Weather Girls in 1982.