PIQUA — “Dancing with the Piqua Stars,” Piqua Arts Council’s premier fundraiser, will take place Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, with two shows to be held at Romer’s Catering.
Tickets for both the matinee and dinner performances will be on sale starting Monday, July 12, at Readmore’s Hallmark in Piqua. Tickets for the dessert matinee are $10 each and tickets for the dinner performance are $30 each. The dessert matinee will take place on Saturday, Aug. 28, at 1 p.m., with doors opening at 12:15 p.m. The dinner will take place on Aug. 28, with doors opening at 6 p.m. The dinner will be at 7 p.m., and the show will take place at 8 p.m. To support this year’s dancers, visit www.PiquaArtsCouncil.org/dancing-with-the-stars, or watch for their individual fundraiser opportunities. The full bios for each individual dancer can also be found on the website.
Dancers include partners Christy and William Hayes, Juli and Doug Smith, Janie Branson and Ron Pearson, Tina and Daniel Rudy, Tanya Stewart and Craig Smith, and dancers Amanda Hayward and Kristie Dankworth.
Christy Hayes is happily married to her dance partner for life, Bill Hayes, and has two adult daughters who both live in Chicago. Christy is the director of Piqua Catholic’s Preschool Program, The Center for Early Learning.
William (Bill) Hayes is a retired research engineer who currently serves as a volunteer STEM instructor at Piqua Catholic School. William married for the first and only time just five years ago to his wife, who brought him back to his hometown, where most people know him as the husband of Christy Hayes, and the stepfather to her two girls.
Janie Branson is a real estate agent with Keller Williams Home Town Realty, as well as a senior auditor at Abbott Nutrition. Janie is the mother of three, with an 18-year-old boy, a 20-year-old girl, and 23-year-old girl.
Ron Pearson is currently the IT manager at Hartzell Industries in Piqua. Ron built his home with his life partner, Janie, mother of three. There, they live with their two cats.
Juli Smith works at The Community Foundation of Shelby County as the scholarship and grants administrator. Juli and her husband of 28 years Doug, sales engineer at the French Oil Mill Machinery Company, have two sons, Joshua, who lives in Columbus, and Ian, who lives in Cincinnati.
Tina Rudy serves as the assistant director of Alexander Davis Child Care at the Miami County YMCA. She has been married for 26 years, and has one son and cat. Daniel Rudy works at Lowe’s in Troy. Daniel has two amazing parents, Bruce and Tina, as well as an adorable cat, Snowball.
Craig Smith is a retired minister of 38 years, who is now the president of The Exit 7 Group LLC, as well as an active health coach. Craig has been married 51 years to his wife, Victoria Sayers Smith. Together they have four daughters, 19 grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and one Pooton puppy named Bently.
Tanya Stewart is currently the regional manager at Winans Chocolates & Coffee. She has four beautiful children: Lily, age 21; Elijah, age 19; Chloe, age 18; and Jade, age 9.
Amanda Hayward is the editor at Cincinnati Family Magazine. She is a mom of three beautiful kids, as well as one dog on earth, and one in heaven.
Kristie Dankworth works for Piqua City Schools at Springcreek Elementary, where she is a second and third grade intervention specialist. Kristie is married to Chris Dankworth, and has a son, Kade, who is a freshman at Piqua High School.
A special thank you goes out to this year’s sponsor, Hartzell Propeller for helping to underwrite the expenses for the competition. For more information on how to vote, contact the Piqua Arts Council at 937-773-9630.
