More than 450 people packed the HCC Plant City John R. Trinkle Center Nov. 15, to cheer on the 11 couples who took the spotlight at the sixth annual Dancing With the Locals.
The dance competition featured everything from swing and line dancing to the Charleston and an elegant waltz. The competition, one of the Plant City Noon Rotary Club’s main fundraisers of the year, raised money to purchase automated external defibrillators for the Plant City Police Department.
Dancers vied for top honors before a panel of judges, which included Paul Davis, James Surrency, Traci Walding and Michelle Wegner. Organizers also awarded the couples who raised the most money from audience donations and sponsorships.
Judges awarded three couples with perfect scores: Dr. Ray Gutierrez and Luly Bonilla; Dr. Daniel and Arienne Middlebrooks; and Steve Bonds and Natasha Davis. After deliberating, judges named Gutierrez and Bonilla their top couple.
The top fundraising couples included Olan Deguzman and Amy Glover; Dr. Derek and Katie Busciglio; and Bonds and Davis.
Other participating couples included: LaRoyce Keene and Maddy Keene; Matt Maloney and Amber Kosinsky; husband and wife Barry and Krisha Maurer; Beau Walden and Plant City Times & Observer Associate Editor Amber Jurgensen; father and daughter Rick and Erica Lott; and Cliff Brown and Shana Mitchell.