This year’s event, scheduled for Saturday, June 25, 2011 at the Dothan Civic Center, promises to be even more entertaining than last year’s stellar event, which raised more than $14,000 for the Partnership.

“We have an absolutely outstanding group of local celebrities putting their best dance moves on the stage at the Civic Center this year to help us continue to provide the children of Dothan and Houston County with the information they need to make an educated and solid decision when presented with drugs, alcohol, and tobacco,” says Jeffery Biggs, community outreach coordinator for the Partnership. “This group of celebrities has pledged to do their best to help us raise $50,000 for this year’s Dancing with the Stars-Dothan; and we really believe we’re going to be able to reach that goal.”

Each celebrity is partnered with a local dance professional and will learn one dance to perform on stage at the Civic Center. “Many dance pairs have already begun rehearsals,” Biggs adds. “They take this very seriously – with a light-hearted approach.”

This year’s slate of local celebrities include: Courtney Caulfield owner of Courtney’s Studio; radio personality Julie Jacobs of WKMX; Lamar Brooks, City President of Regions Bank; Holli Closson, account representative with Wiregrass Hospice; Sam Crawford, former Dothan Fire Chief; Jamiese Price of WDHN; Kickin’ Country 93.7 radio and reality show personality Amie Pollard; radio personality Jerome Jackson of Kickin’ Country 93.7; Gold’s Gym trainer Danny Powers; Dothan Police Cpl. Rachel David; Jason Edberg of Goldfingers; and Joshua Repp with WTVY.

Local professional dancers this year include: Cameron Philippona, Roger Garcia, defending champ Sonya Philippona, Doug Compton, Nancy Hein, Brian Lumbatis, Ron Devane, Debbie Driggers, Robin Saliba, Steve Morrison, Sandy Lumbatis, and Marta Trevathan.

“One thing that makes this year’s program even more unique is not only do we have several returning pros – including a mother and son, but we also have a husband and wife squaring off against each other,” Biggs says. “Last year Cameron and Sonya faced off against each other, and this year they’ll do that again, but so will husband and wife pros Brian and Sandy Lumbatis. Throw in a little friendly radio competition from Kickin’ Country’s morning show partners, Amie and Jerome, and then Julie from WKMX, and the battle is on. When you include the other celebrities, who knows what’s going to happen. Lamar, Holli, Sam, Danny, Rachel, Jason, Joshua, and Jamiese are all ready to put their best moves on show for everyone. It’s going to be a great night!”

The Partnership, as well as the celebrities and pros, are currently seeking sponsorships for this year’s show; and each sponsorship dollar raised by the celebrity and pro will be applied to their vote total, along with votes cast the night of the event by the audience, and a panel of professional judges. Sponsorship information can be obtained by contacting Biggs at 699-2813, or by contacting any celebrity or professional dancer associated with this year’s show. Tickets for this year’s event will go on sale soon at the Dothan Civic Center Box Office and will be $15. Sponsorships begin at $100.

Looking to expand upon the message of drug prevention, last year we attempted to wrap one mile of downtown Dothan in red ribbon. Although we fell a little short of our goal, last year’s event was a huge success. This year, we hope to expand on the successes of last year and cover all of Dothan and Houston County in red. How will we do that? We are currently selling segments of red ribbon and full-size red door bows to raise the awareness of drug prevention to our community. These segments of red ribbon and red bows will serve as a reminder to people throughout our communities – and those visiting – that Dothan and Houston County care about our children and want them to live in a drug-free society.

In addition to the ribbon and bows, we are also seeking sponsorships for our annual Red Ribbon t-shirts which are distributed to students throughout Dothan and Houston County. These t-shirts serve as reminders for our children, their parents, and our community, that “drug free is the way to be.” Each year we work with local students who design the artwork for the t-shirt as a way to bring them into the process. Because we do not sell these t-shirts to students, but rather provide the schools with shirts to distribute to students, we seek sponsorships to cover the costs associated with the production. Each sponsors’ name will appear on the backs of the t-shirts and receive mention at our annual Red Ribbon Kick-off and Party at the Dothan Civic Center on Monday, October 25, when students, parents, and community leaders from throughout the area celebrate a drug-free lifestyle.

We are once again seeking your help to make this all a possibility. Our local students look forward to being one of their school’s winners in receiving a t-shirt, and we hope to continue to make those t-shirts available.

If you would like to be a sponsor for the t-shirt, buy a segment of ribbon and a bow, or just a bow, please fill out the attached form and return it to our office by Friday, October 8 so we can meet our deadlines for production. Your help is greatly needed and appreciated. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, or our office at 699-2813.

Download this form and mail it back to us! Ribbon and Bow order form

Bone biologist John Callaci, PhD, one of the principle researchers in the study, cautioned that data from animals don’t directly translate to people, but the findings suggest that this could be a problem with humans. Bone mass is lost throughout adult life as part of the aging process. Thus, anything that inhibits the build up of bone mass during the critical years of adolescence and young adulthood could increase the risk of osteoporosis and fractures in later life.

A 2008 study by Callaci and colleagues found that adolescent rats exposed to alcohol in amounts comparable to that of binge drinkers had 15 percent less bone build-up than control rats exposed to saline solution. The new study examined the effects of binge drinking on genes. Rats received injections of alcohol that resulted in a blood alcohol level of 0.28. Rats were exposed to binge amounts of alcohol on either three consecutive days (acute binge) or three consecutive days for four weeks in a row (chronic binge). They were compared to control rats who received saline.

Researchers found that about 300 bone-related genes were disrupted in rats exposed to acute binge drinking and 180 bone-related genes were disrupted in rats exposed to chronic binge drinking. In the affected genes, alcohol either increased or decreased the amount of associated RNA, which serves as the template for making proteins, the building blocks of bones and other tissue. This change in how genes are expressed disrupted molecular pathways responsible for normal bone metabolism and maintenance of bone mass.

In one of the most disturbing findings, researchers found that the gene disruption was long-lasting. Even after 30 days of sobriety, the genes still were being expressed differently. Thirty days in a rat’s lifespan is roughly equivalent to about three years in a human lifespan, according to the research team.

The findings might help in the development of new drugs to minimize bone loss in alcohol abusers and in other people who are at risk for osteoporosis for other reasons. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

9th annual drug conf brochure

Nuite Sherman displays his winning artwork.

Mustafa Kothawala displays his winning artwork

Mustafa Kothawala and Nuite Sherman, seniors at Northview High School were named the winners in this year’s 1-800-QUIT-NOW billboard contest for DHCSAP. Their original artwork was outstanding. Thanks to Mr. Calvin Bell-Tharpe at Northview for facilitating this contest.