10A • October 19, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
‘Dancing with the Clatsop County Stars’ raises funds for domestic abuse victims
By Katherine Lacaze
For Coast Weekend
W
hat do a police chief,
a community college
president and a high
school athletic director
have in common?
Thursday night, these three local
celebrities, plus five others, were
ready to dance with professionals
from the Utah Ballroom Dance
Company at Astoria’s Liberty The-
atre in hopes of claiming the Mirror
Ball Trophy.
Though they’re competing in
the inaugural “Dancing with the
Clatsop County Stars” fundraiser,
none of the participants are pas-
sionate about competitive dancing
per se. They are, however, strong
supporters of the event host, The
Harbor, a community agency that
provides intervention, recovery
and advocacy to survivors of do-
mestic violence, sexual assault and
stalking.
“I love The Harbor, and I’d do
anything to support them,” said
Cannon Beach Police Chief Jason
Schermerhorn, who served on the
nonprofit’s board for three years.
His initial response when asked
to dance was fear, but “I couldn’t
say ‘no,’” he added.
Schermerhorn was matched to
compete against Norma Hernandez,
the Clatsop County WIC (Women,
Infants, and Children) coordinator;
Charlene Larsen, the 2017 Lady
Liberty Award recipient; Astoria
High School athletic director How-
ard Rub; The Harbor’s executive di-
rector Molly Pringle; Oregon State
Trooper Andy Morgan; the Astoria
Regatta president Julie Flues; and
Clatsop Community College Pres-
ident Chris Breitmeyer.
In picking participants, The
Harbor wanted representation from
various groups and different sec-
tors of the community, Community
Outreach Coordinator Ariel Young
said.
“It represents what we stand for
at The Harbor: trying to connect
people with lots of different re-
sources,” she said.
PHOTOS BY COLIN MURPHEY PHOTO
Jason Schermerhorn and Norma Hernandez practice salsa dancing.
Silly for a cause
Much like on the ABC-TV series
“Dancing with the Stars,” each local
celebrity prepared a routine with a
professional dancer.
Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear,
along with Astoria Pride co-chair-
woman Dida DeAngelis and Asto-
ria Ford owner Dane Gouge, will be
guest judges, providing commen-
tary throughout the performance.
The winner will be chosen through
an audience voting process.
The Utah Ballroom Dance Com-
pany frequently partners with non-
profits to put on this kind of fund-
raiser. When they reached out to
Clatsop County organizations, The
Harbor jumped on the opportunity.
Hernandez, who serves on sever-
al boards and is heavily involved in
various fundraisers, feels that, espe-
cially for The Harbor, it’s “good to
do something that is not too som-
ber,” but creates space for happi-
Norma Hernandez, Jason Schermerhorn and Julie Fluse practice their
dance moves.
ness, hope and taking “a little vaca-
tion” from issues that are important
but can be emotionally draining.
As for the dancing, she isn’t
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“We’re just being silly with our
friends for a great cause” — al-
though she has jokingly warned
her fellow competitors she may “go
Tonya Harding on all of them.”
Proceeds support The Harbor
in providing survivor services and
maintaining their confidential emer-
gency shelter, which was recently
reopened in June.
While raising money, the event
also heightens awareness about do-
mestic violence and sexual assault.
From a law enforcement perspec-
tive, Schermerhorn said, The Har-
bor is “a great resource and asset”
when it comes to providing advo-
cacy and trauma-informed care for
survivors.
“They give that voice to the
victim,” he said. “These advocates
help them to get resources and safe-
ty and security for their families to
protect them. I think that’s invalu-
able in our society.”
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