The 10th edition of “Dancing with Our Stars” will take place on September 5th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Noblesville, 13700 Conference Center Dr.

All proceeds benefit Meals on Wheels Hamilton County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization led by a volunteer board of directors that delivers over 200 meals daily, including breakfast, frozen meals, cold lunches and hot meals, to the elderly, people with disabilities or homebound individuals, and people with chronic illnesses.

This year, in celebration of the event’s 10th anniversary, the theme is “Decades.” Dancers will showcase styles from the 1930s to the 2010s. Guests are encouraged to dress according to their favorite decade.

Beth Gehlhausen, executive director of Meals on Wheels Hamilton County, is looking forward to the event.

“Every year it just gets better and better,” said Gehlhausen. “The level of commitment and the wow factor of our dance couples is unmatched every time and will completely enchant the audience.”

Gehlhausen said local professional dancers will be paired with some of Hamilton County’s “most well-known” residents and compete for the title of Dancing with Our Stars Champions 2024. Viewers can also vote for their favorite dancer or dancers to win the evening’s People’s Choice Award.

“We have a few special tricks up our sleeve for our 10th anniversary event,” said Gehlhausen. “The professional dancers work hard to get the best out of each of our star dancers.”

This year’s professional dancers are Rob Jenkins, Scott Shook, Adam Trogdlen, Ed Godby-Schwab, Natasha Cox, Yulia Shook, Diana Miller, Olga Cansino and Kristen Motz.

Gehlhausen said Hamilton County’s “star dancers” will be selected based on suggestions from past dancers and people known to committee members, among others.

“Ultimately, we want people to dance who want to, but we can also bring new people to the table,” Gehlhausen said. “We’ve had great extroverts, but we’ve also had some great introverts who have been spectacular. There are no real qualifications other than a willingness to dance and want to raise money for us. We have a suggested amount that each individual should raise, which is $10,000, and that is accomplished through sponsorships and donations.”

Fishers resident and 2021 competitor Corby Thompson said the event was outside his comfort zone, but he dove “headfirst” into the competition.

“I just had a blast. It was so much fun,” Thompson said. “At our final dress rehearsal, I was struck by how much effort everyone put in to make sure we put on a good show and raised money for Meals on Wheels. It was impressive and I was proud to be part of something that was a solid effort for a good cause. We’re all a little shy about taking on that celebrity title and people are hesitant to do it just because you’re putting yourself in the spotlight. But I just had fun doing it and encourage other people to do the same.”

This year’s “celebrities” from Hamilton County are:

● Marti Brown – Mortgage Originator at Fairway Independent Mortgage

● Melissa Carter – Owner of Balanced Health Clinic

● Linda Mylin – Certified Health Coach

● Kim Kerchval – Co-Owner of Village Pizza

● Doug Pileri – Retired Vice President and Chairman of Music for All

● Trevor Pike – Controls Analyst for Freedom Mortgage

● Benji Lewis – Physical Education Teacher at Monon Trail Elementary

● Matt Rapp – Facility Director for Hamilton Southeastern

● Cameron Rivers – Esource Resources

Gehlhausen said the event is the largest fundraiser for Meals on Wheels in Hamilton County.

“We were looking for an event that was different, something that wasn’t a traditional gala but still brought people together to raise awareness,” Gehlhausen said. “The cool thing is that every year we have 10 new celebrities or people from the community dancing, which means we get to meet their families, friends and colleagues, which means at least three-quarters of the attendees are new to the event every year. So we can raise awareness and find friends who become ongoing donors. It’s a different perspective that works well for us.”

The event enabled Meals on Wheels Hamilton County to serve the growing number of people in need of meal assistance.

“What has just exploded is the amount of food that people need,” Gehlhausen said. “Since the (COVID-19 pandemic), people have become much more reliant on our program for all or most of their meals. We give out hot and cold (meals) every day, plus frozen meals for the weekend. So we’ve really seen an increase in the need for food and the amount of food needed to meet nutritional needs. It’s pretty incredible.”

Gehlhausen said her goal for this year’s event is to raise between $65,000 and $70,000.

“Every year it’s different. Last year we had two dancers competing against each other,” Gehlhausen said. “Together, the two of them raised over $65,000. This year we have some people working really hard to raise funds. So it’s going to be really interesting.”

For more information, see eatingonwheelshc.org/dancing-with-our-stars. Tickets are available until August 29th, 12:00 noon.

Meals on Wheels Hamilton County

Meals on Wheels Hamilton County at Riverview Health in Noblesville delivers hot, cold and frozen meals to those in need throughout the county.

“The majority of the people, about 60 percent of those we serve, are on some form of financial assistance,” said Beth Gehlhausen, the organization’s executive director. “We have hot and cold meals that people can get Monday through Friday that are brought to them by volunteers. So we try to make sure that people have access to meals seven days a week to meet their nutritional needs, with our ultimate goal being to keep people as nutritionally sound as possible.”

Gehlhausen said the organization especially needs volunteers to deliver meals.

“We have 19 routes that we deliver daily for our hot and cold meals, and our frozen meals are delivered every Friday. We currently have eight routes for that,” Gehlhausen said. “We really need to grow our volunteer base. We want to encourage people to participate in our fundraiser, but we would also like to find more people to drive for us.”

To volunteer, visit mealsonwheelshc.org.