The 7th Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser

Well, we did it again.  Twirly Girls Pole Fitness hosted the 7th Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.  Our very own Rita has had three kidney transplants and Bel has hosted this event every year to help support Rita and to fund research to help people have healthy kidneys.

I performed a routine choreographed by Pole Dance Reunion with Jade, Alana and Katie.  These ladies are another reminder of the importance of sisterhood.  We had a great time getting together to practice and actually have our next two routines sketched out.

Each year, we have an issue in the studio at this event.  The toilet has flooded.  The AC has gone out.  The stereo has broken.  This year, it was the lights.  They kept going into strobe mode.  After two false starts, we finally got the green light, no pun intended.  Although it certainly wasn't my strongest performance of this routine, I am still mostly happy with how it turned out.

If you would like to donate, please visit this link: http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NKFServingtheWest?px=1559560&pg=personal&fr_id=8163

And to watch our video, please do so below:



Be happy you can pee!  If you've had any kidney experiences you'd like to share, please do so below!

Sixth Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser

Last month, Twirly Girls hosted the SIXTH annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.  It does not seem possible that we are six years into throwing these events, but we are!  Late last year, I asked the other instructors to do one long instructor piece instead of each of us dancing separately (this is a popular show, and we could very easily end up with 25+ performances if we aren't careful).  They said yes!  (Although not everyone was excited about my song choice.)  If you want to donate to the cause, please visit THIS link.

Then watch our video and leave a comment with your thoughts!

The Fourth Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser to Benefit The National Kidney Foundation

Can you believe it is almost time for the FOURTH annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser?!

As most of you know, my friend and co-Twirly Girl, Rita, has had three kidney transplants in her lifetime.  In less than a month, Twirly Girls is hosting a fundraiser, which will benefit the National Kidney Foundation.

If you are a local business or a pole related/online business that would like to offer items for our raffle, please let me know.  If you would like to buy tickets to the fundraiser, they are $15.  We will also start selling raffle tickets soon.  Contact your favorite Twirly Girl to secure your spot.  You may make checks payable to the National Kidney Foundation if you would like a receipt for your tax deduction. 

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2013
Time: 7:00 PM (door at 6:30 PM)
Location: Twirly Girls Pole Fitness, 288 Spring Street, Pleasanton, California

http://www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com

Please join us for a fun evening to support a great lady! 

The THIRD Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser is in the planning stages...

SAVE THE DATE:  Sunday, April 22, 2012

You know what that means...

We will be looking for performers, sponsors and donors for the raffle!  Start thinking about it now.  And if you have a studio, join us in a Day of Giving the Gift of Pole!

And here's me throwing this out to the universe with the hopes that someone will see it and be interested....any PROS interested in starring in our showcase?!  :-D  

Article:

http://poleforacause.com/2011/12/power/

Facebook group for Power of Pole - A Day of Giving The Gift of Pole:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerofpole/

The Lovely Rita on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TheLovelyRita

The Lovely Rita website:

https://sites.google.com/site/lovelyritafundraiser/

I will start hitting everyone up soon.  

If you have a local business and have an item or service you would like to donate for the raffle, we will advertise for you and love you forever. 

http://www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com/

Twirly Girls 2012 Calendar is ALMOST HERE!!!!!

http://twirlygirlspolefitness.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/pre-sale-of-the-twirl-girls-2012-calendar-to-benefit-the-nkf/

The Pole Dancing Shop - Supporting Your Pole Community

My next blog for the Pole Dancing Shop is up!

Please support your pole community...  Comment on and share this post!

http://www.thepoledancingshop.com/supporting-your-pole-community/#.TpM7gXLGCSp

THANK YOU!

I could find poems or songs to help me express the gratitude I feel for everyone who participated in the Second Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation, but two words say it best:  THANK YOU.  

Thank you to everyone who participated in the calendar photoshoot, bought a calendar, donated raffle items, bought raffle tickets, attended the dance recital, donated money through Rita's kidney website...  Thank you to all of the girls who danced on Sunday.  Thank you to their friends and families for allowing them to share their time with us.  Thank you to Andrea Becker, who helped choreograph a couple of the dances and donated many items for the raffle.  

THANK YOU TO THE GIRLS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE FUNDRAISER:

Dancers:

Marilyn

Tina

Grace

"Stephanie Nicole"

Yolanda T.

Sam

Jenelle

Paola

Gina

Chelsea "Pink Flamingo"

"Shimmies Galore"

Sharon

And, of course, RITA!  (ADORABLE performance, by the way!)

(Oh yeah, and me too -- Lori.)

Pole Cleaners:

Isabel

Carmen

Jessica

Jenny

Samantha

Sandra

To Edna for selling raffle tickets at the event for us!

(I went through that list three times and if I forgot anyone, I AM SO SORRY, please let me know and I will update this list!)

To our amazing singer, Yolanda B., who rocked it TWICE for us!  You have an amazing voice, lady!!!

I thanked her above for dancing, but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to Stephanie Nicole le Dream, who came out to perform for Rita even though she had another show that night at Club 1220 in Walnut Creek.  If you ever want to attend a fun drag show, check out Stephanie, along with a host of other amazing girls, on the first and third Sunday of each month, starting at 9:30 p.m., at Club 1220.  

Thank you to Shelly Lamb, who is now teaching at Twirly Girls, and is about to go to New York for competition.  GOOD LUCK!  You have the entire Twirly Girl family rooting you on.  And thank you, Shelly, for coming out to the fundraiser and performing, even though you had been teaching so far away that day.  You are an amazing performer and so fun to watch.

So far, we have raised about $2,000 for the National Kidney Foundation.

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO DONATED TO THE RAFFLE:

Bel Jeremiah of Twirly Girls Pole Fitness
www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com

Doug Korb of DK Designs
Doug's e-mail

Twisted Silver 

http://www.twisted-silver.com/

Sarah Starlight
www.starlighthoops.com

hOney

www.hoopdanceacademy.com

Inspire Fitness Boot Camps 

www.myinspirefitness.com

Mighty Grip

http://www.mightygrip.com/

Sephora items donated through Isabel Sum Contreras

Baskets donated by Shelley Clark

Jenny Gain, Wellness International Network
http://www.synergywellnessgroup.com/

Theresa Taylor Grutzeck at The Rouge

www.therougecosmetics.com

Massimo's

www.massimos.com

Bruce's Tire in Fremont 

(510) 651-4701

Jennifer of PoleSkivvies 

http://www.poleskivvies.com

Gerri Levitas of Bay Healing
www.bayhealing.com

Joe Baptist (retired Air Force firearms instructor)

Just By Touch

www.justbytouch.webs.com

Primal Fit Boot Camp

www.primalfitbootcamp.com

Roxanne Freitas-Souza at Motives

www.motivescosmetics.com/colormeroxanne

Toni Reyes at Christopher's Salon

www.salon07ghq.com

Rocco's Pizzeria

http://www.roccospizzeria.com/

We also want to thank:

The Real Karaoke Joe

www.therealkaraokejoe.com

Cake Queen, Michael Villa 

underwater@sbcglobalnet

And let's not forget the companies that helped fund the printing of our Lovely Rita calendar (we still have a three or four available for sale...only $5):

Physicians' Youthful Resolutions
www.youthfulresolutions.com

Penninsula Women's Health
www.penninsulawomenshealth.com

Tri-Valley Bodyworks
www.trivalleybodyworks.com

The Pole Dancing Shop
www.thepoledancingshop.com

Douglas Korb, Remax
www.dougkorb.com

Thank you to Andrew of Liquidpulp Photography (www.liquidpulp.com) for taking the photos at the calendar shoot AND at the fundraiser; and thanks to Anh Thu Tran for doing make-up the day of the shoot (and supporting the Twirly Girls by coming to the fundraiser).

Rita and I again would like to thank Bel of Twirly Girls Pole Fitness (www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com) for being so generous with her time and studio!  We know she is a busy lady, but she always makes time for her Twirly Girls and we love her for that!  

I personally want to thank Rita for being a good friend and keeping my life interesting and fun.  She is one of the most honest and trustworthy people I have ever met.  I appreciate her sharing her daughter, Kate, with me.  And I even appreciate her sharing her husband, Dave, with me (no, not in THAT way).  He says the funniest $hit sometimes.  

One of the things I love about Twirly Girls is how supportive all the girls are of each other.  We are all at different levels.  We are all different ages, shapes and sizes.  Hell, some of us aren't even actually girls.  But we all get along, love each other and support each other.  It truly is a family.  It is a beautiful thing.  And I am thankful every day to have the Twirly Girls in my life.  

We have one last fundraiser at Rocco's in Walnut Creek next Thursday, April 28th.  If you let them know you are there for Rita's fundraiser, they will donate a portion of the sales to Rita's walk.  This is valid all day, for take-out and dine-in.  Rita and I, along with many others, will be there in the evening for dinner if you would like to join us.  

http://walnutcreek.patch.com/events/the-lovely-rita-fundraiser-at-roccos-pizzeria

If you'd just like to donate to TEAM KIDNEY, please check out this link:  

http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NorthernCaliforniaNorthernNevadaOregonWashingtonandAlaska?team_id=87291&pg=team&fr_id=3320

You can also join the Lovely Rita fan page on Facebook to be kept up to date on future events:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/The-Lovely-Rita-Fundraiser/184967201517111

Rita and I (along with many others) will be doing the Kidney Walk in San Francisco on Saturday, May 7th.  Please feel free to join us for a beautiful walk along the Embarcadero!  

I know this is really long and I apologize for that, but before I go, I wanted to let you know where you can find photos and videos from the event.

Flickr link (this is my account but I am gathering photos from all over to keep together.  So far, I have photos from Andrew, Rita, Grace and myself.  Keep checking back because I know there are more photos coming): 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolorashel/sets/72157626540794554/

Videos on my YouTube account (might have to scroll around...look for videos uploaded around April 18, 2011):

http://www.youtube.com/lolorashel

Videos on Rita's YouTube account:

http://www.youtube.com/ritapearson

Videos on Twirly Girls' YouTube account (might not have any videos from the fundraiser but there are other fun videos on there):

http://www.youtube.com/twirlygirlspolefit

See you next year!  Check out my blog from yesterday...where I set a goal for the THIRD annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser!

The Second Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser!

I can't believe it is less than a month before our SECOND ANNUAL LOVELY RITA FUNDRAISER at Twirly Girls Pole Fitness!  If you weren't around last year, and don't know what I'm talking about, search my blog...I posted all kinds of things about our fun event.

Our very own Rita has received THREE kidney transplants in her lifetime.  Last year, Twirly Girls hosted an entire day of classes, a dance recital, silent auction and raffle to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.  This year, we have already put out a Twirly Girls calendar in Rita's honor.  We have also set up a pizza night at Rocco's in Walnut Creek (Thursday, April 28th). 

This year, Twirly Girls is going to keep it simple.  We will have a dance recital and raffle to benefit the NKF.  The dance recital will start at 3 p.m., with raffle items being given away between dances.  Raffle tickets will be 3 for $5.00, 8 for $10.00 or, 20 for $20.00 (best deal).  Raffle tickets are ON SALE NOW!

I will do an inventory of prizes this week and do another blog about what you can win.  However, in the meantime, if you have a business you'd like to promote and can donate a gift certificate or item for raffle, please let me know!  We will be doing a poster to thank you for your donation.  If you donate an item, I can give you a receipt from the NKF (sorry, from what I understand, the IRS doesn't allow you to write off gift certificates and/or time donated).   We were so touched last year by the outpouring of donations from local businesses and this year is looking just as awesome!

The Fitness Examiner has kindly included us in a write-up.  We thank them for that.  Check out the article here.   

We also have a link at Patch Pleasanton.  Check that out here.   

If you can't  make it to Rocco's or Twirly Girls, please feel free to donate directly to Rita's page on the National Kidney Foundation's page.   

Everyone is welcome to walk with us during the Kidney Walk 5k in San Francisco on Saturday, May 7th!

Even if money is tight, or you don't have time to visit us at these events, please feel free to share this blog with your friends.  We are also accepting happy thoughts and good wishes.  :-)  You don't realize how important your kidneys are until you don't have them!   

Back to blogging for The Pole Dancing Shop

The Pole Dancing Shop has been amazing to me!  They sponsored the Twirly Girls calendar and they just allowed me to guest blog for a third time!

http://www.thepoledancingshop.com/news/76/Will-Pole-For-Charity-by-Lori-Myers.html

Will Pole For Charity by Lori Myers

Posted on 1st Jan 2011 @ 8:42 PM

In April 2010, Twirly Girls Pole Fitness held a fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation.  One of our very own, the Lovely Rita, is a three-time kidney transplant recipient.  She does the NKF 5k walk in San Francisco each May and needed to raise money.  The studio happily held a day of classes, an open house, silent auction, raffle and dance recital to benefit the foundation.  We raised almost $3,000.

We decided to do it even bigger in 2011.  The Twirly Girls put together a calendar shoot, featuring students, instructors, and our supportive men.  We are planning to do another day of classes, etc. in April 2011.  We should easily be able to double or triple our donation this year.  We are asking other studios who are interested in getting involved to contact us to coordinate.  We can put you in touch with the National Kidney Foundation for fundraising materials.  It's a fun way to promote your studio and feel like you've done something good for the world.  [See my blog post:  http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2010/11/calling-all-pole-studios.html]

For me, the biggest challenge is getting ready for the dance recital.  Performing for people outside of my comfortable and supportive class is very scary.  I am doing a group number with the FEVER! girls.  But I am also doing a surprise (guess it won't be much of a surprise if Rita reads this...so I won't reveal TOO much here) number alone.  I had set a goal two months ago to lose enough weight and gain enough strength to invert within six months (which would be somewhere around April).  I have a goal of losing a total of 35 pounds.  I have lost 8 so far.  Sometimes I move a little slowly, but at least the scale is finally moving in the right direction.

I am planning to start the Couch-2-5k plan in January so that I can start preparing for the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco (it is a 12K over some difficult hills).  I am already doing 5k's but I mostly walk/jog them and I want to be able to run the entire way.  It won't help much with strength but it will give me a good cardio workout so that I can lose the weight.  On January 3, I am starting a 7-week boot camp that promises to kill us on Mondays.  While losing the weight, I also need to work hard on gaining strength so that I can actually haul myself up into an invert without breaking my neck.

I have already increased my yoga classes and am going to add pilates reformer classes next month to help with flexibility and core strength.  I also took a pilates class that incorporated ballet moves, so I am becoming more interested in using those moves to make me stronger and help with my fluidity.
So, that is my plan for the first quarter of 2011.  I hate setting New Years resolutions because they are so easily forgotten.  That's why I set my goals now and plan to keep them.  What are your goals for 2011?

Lori Myers
Student at Twirly Girls Pole Fitness Studio in Pleasanton, California
http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/

I don't bend in half

So, I realize this has been a theme throughout my blog, but I am NOT the "normal" pole dancer.  Pole dancing has BLOWN UP in the last couple of years.  The dancers who compete are training with aerial circus acts, contortionists and gymnasts. 

I can't even do a back bend. 

I have a goal to be able to invert by April.  It doesn't even have to be a good invert.  I just want to be able to go upside down and not fall on my head.  I'm working hard to lose weight and get strong.  Will that be good enough?  If I can't fly through the air with the greatest of ease like the other girls (and boys) do, will I still be happy?

I sure hope so. 

I just wanted to write this so I could include a couple of really cool videos from YouTube.  Someday...I will be this amazing.  Someday!!!!!

Steven Retchless practicing...UH-MAZE-ING!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kBmVXRoYMo

Miss Pole Dance Australia 2010 intro...More AMAZING!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce7HgItK4Vs

P.S.  The Twirly Girls calendars will be printed soon!  The price is $15 (add $2 for shipping).  Please contact me if you are interested in pre-ordering and I will give you an address.  All of the proceeds will go to support the National Kidney Foundation on behalf of our very own, Lovely Rita!!  We have sample photos on Liquidpulp Photography's fan page on Facebook.  Don't miss out...we've had a lot of interest and we're only printing 250 calendars! 

Twirly Girls Calendar Photo Shoot

The calendar photo shoot was yesterday.  We are so excited.  The shoot went really well.  The photos look like they're going to be AWESOME!  I am working on some funding to pay for the printing of the calendar and I think we're going to make some decent money for the National Kidney Foundation.  Current projections are about $3,000 from the calendar alone.  We haven't even made it to our fundraiser day in April yet and we're already looking to beat last year's donations! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who participated.  We had 27 Twirly Girls and Boys who were photographed for the calendar.  We had an amazing photographer and make-up artist helping us out.  We had a lot of fun.  And I can't wait to do it again!!!

Check out some photos on my Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48809&id=100000107566031&l=d1aedfbcdb

Here is my open letter of thanks to all of the people who helped us yesterday:

Lori Myers November 29 at 9:34am

I know Bel sent an e-mail already and I apologize for overfilling your e-mail boxes, but I just wanted to thank everyone who participated yesterday.

Andrew Fryxell of Liquidpulp Photography very generously donated his time yesterday. If you ever have a need for a photographer, please consider him. http://www.liquidpulp.com/

Anh Thu Tran also generously donated her time to come and do make up for a lot of the girls. She went way above and beyond the call of duty and completely made over a good number of the girls (including myself). I can't thank her enough for helping us. If you are in need of a make up artist, please get in touch with me and I will give you her e-mail address or cell phone. (She's on my friends list on Facebook if you'd like to send her a message now.)

I want to thank Kristin for helping keep everything moving smoothly, posing and making announcements. Thank you to Bel for being so giving of her time and studio (especially now when she has so many Groupon classes taking over her life). Thank you to Rita for being the subject of our fun day and keeping people fed!

I also want to thank all of the girls for coming out with their costumes and great attitudes and posing for the calendar. I'm sure there are some things we could have changed but I thought the day went fairly smoothly and I was very pleased considering that was my first try at a calendar shoot!

Now to the business side of things: We hope that all of our Twirly Girls will be willing to buy and sell calendars. Calendars are going to run $15. If you already know you want one (or ten), please e-mail me and let me know. We are about to choose a printer and we want to make sure we order enough. We are asking that you please drop off the money for the entire order when you pick up your calendars. Although we trust you all, it's easy to lose track of calendars and every dollar we miss is a dollar that we can't give to the National Kidney Foundation. Christmas is coming and it would be a lovely stocking stuffer!!!

Also, if you own a local business or know a local business owner, we are still looking for funding to print the calendar. We are looking for 9 businesses to donate at least $100. We would then print your business card in the back of the calendar. Please let me know if you're interested. The photos should be ready in a couple of weeks and we'd like to have the funding set up by then. Again, the more sponsors we get, the more money we can give directly to the National Kidney Foundation.

Don't forget the Lovely Rita Fundraiser will be April 17th. Another fun day of classes, a dance recital and a silent auction/raffle. If you'd like to donate anything for the silent auction or raffle, please let me know. We are working to get hair and make up set up for those girls who want to participate in the dance recital. Start planning your dances now, ladies. We also plan to have a DJ there to run music. It should be another amazing day.

May 7th is the actual Kidney Walk in San Francisco. It's a 5k down the Embarcadero. We'd love to have other Twirly Girls join us.

A group of Twirly Girls will be doing the 100th annual Bay 2 Breakers on May 15th in San Francisco. Sign up for your Twirly Tuff classes to start getting in shape. It's about a 7 mile walk/jog and there are some tough hills, I hear. If you've never been (like me), then it's something to experience! We will be wearing our Twirly Girls shirts to represent!

On another side note, we are throwing around the idea of doing a pin-up photo shoot at the studio. We'd do a package deal for make up, hair and photos. If this is something you'd be interested in, let me know and I'll start pulling prices together. I am hoping to keep the cost under $100 per person (which is still a great deal for all three services). Start thinking of your costumes now! :-) You don't have to be a Twirly Girl to participate in this event. Might be a nice Valentine's Day gift if we get enough interest!

Thank you again for everyone who participated yesterday!! We had such a fun day! And next year, we'll start planning earlier so expect to start shooting in August or so. ;-)

-------------------------------------------------
=^..^=

http://lolorashel.blogspot.com

https://sites.google.com/site/twirlygirlfundraiser/

 

 

Ask and ye shall receive

So, last Friday, Bel puts a note on my FB page:  Let's do a Twirly Girls calendar!

Well, okay!

Two hours later, I have a photographer lined up and I've sent an e-mail out to the Twirly Girls asking for volunteers. 

Less than a week later, we have our date set for the photo shoot, our list of groups and costumes for each month, and a list of possible printers for the calendar.

Don't mess around with me when things need to get done!

I'm REALLY excited about this calendar shoot.  This will be part of our fundraiser for the Lovely Rita's National Kidney Foundation 5k walk.  I think we should be able to keep the cost of printing the calendar to under $5 per calendar.  If we sell even 250 calendars at $10 each, that's already over $1,200 to the National Kidney Foundation!  That's over 1/3 of what we made last year and we haven't even gotten to the actual fundraiser day yet with our silent auction and raffle! 

I have about 20 girls willing to participate.  And Andrew, of Liquidpulp Photography, is graciously donating his time to do the photos.  I even have some people offering to help with hair and make up so that we can get dolled up.  

I think for January, we will highlight Mama Bel in a winter setting.  February will be Valentine's Day.  Lots of red and hearts.  I already have five girls in that group.  March is St. Patty's Day and I think this will be Rita's highlight month...to show off her silly side with all of the awesome green stuff we bought for St. Patty's Day last year.  April is Easter.  We will have the ladies of Rita's Fever dance in black and white, along with an appearance by the infamous Easter Bunny!  May will highlight Doug and the ladies who endure Twirly Tuff.  June will be the men of Twirly Girls.  They will all show off their "Pole Dancing is Not a Crime" shirts.  July will be Independence Day.  We have four ladies in this group so far.  August will be some of the ladies of the Wednesday night 6:30 p.m. class.  We will be in corsets.  September is back to school!  I have three ladies so far.  October will be Halloween.  Anyone with an awesome costume that doesn't feel like they fit in anywhere else can wear it here.  I have five ladies signed up.  November will highlight Marilyn's Tricks Are 4 Chicks class.  I know Sam is participating but I'm still waiting to hear from others.  December will be the holidays.  Mostly, I have ladies wearing Santa Baby costumes.  However, Jenelle has stepped up and will wear a white winter princess costume with a blue sash to represent Hanukka. 

I am really excited about how quickly this is coming together.  I hope the photo shoot goes well and we are able to get this to a printer.  If anyone is interested in purchasing the final product, please let me know!

UPDATE:  WE ARE LOOKING FOR COMPANIES WILLING TO HELP US PAY FOR THE COST OF PRINTING OUR CALENDAR.  WE WOULD GIVE YOUR COMPANY AN ADVERTISING SPOT ON THE CALENDAR.  PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.  THIS WILL ALLOW MORE MONEY TO GO TO THE NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION.  WE ARE NOT TRYING TO MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THIS CALENDAR -- THE ENTIRE PROFIT WILL BE DONATED.

https://sites.google.com/site/twirlygirlfundraiser/

CALLING ALL POLE STUDIOS!

Earlier this year, most of you may remember Twirly Girls held the Lovely Rita fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation's 5k walk in San Francisco.  [See this blog entry:  http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2010/04/lovely-rita-fundraiser-was-huge-success.html.]  We're still six months away from the second annual benefit (we are shooting for a Sunday in April), but we want this one to be HUGE.  Last year, we were able to raise almost $3,000.  This year, let's TRIPLE IT! 

So we are calling ALL POLE STUDIOS around the United States (or even world?!) to participate with us.  Commit to a day of pole activities and/or open house, silent auction and raffle, bring great press to your pole studio and raise money for a great cause. 

If you know a pole dancer, pole studio, newspaper/TV/other media member who can help us get the word out, please contact me (tazzie2010 at yahoo dot com).  If you have a business that you'd like to promote and have a product or service you'd like to donate, please let me know as well.  Remember, donations are a tax write off!

Twirly Girls is planning to have another day of classes and an open house, silent auction, raffle and dance recital to benefit our very own Lovely Rita and the National Kidney Foundation.

If you want to get involved, let me know!

https://sites.google.com/site/twirlygirlfundraiser/

The Lovely Rita's National Kidney Walk in San Francisco

So the day we have been gearing up for finally arrived!  The 5k walk for the National Kidney Foundation -- which is the reason Twirly Girls hosted the fundraiser -- was on Saturday, May 8th.  It was a beautiful clear day in the city (although fairly windy and cold)! 

I joined Rita, her husband (Dave), her daughter (Kate), her mom (Marge), and our friend (Robert), along with other friends (ran into Jim and Mike...hi guys!!!) to walk along the Embarcadero.  We questioned whether it was a full 5k (when we first saw the 2k sign, we thought out loud...no way). 

I'm sure Rita was proud to hand over her large donation of, what I believe was, close to $3,000.  I am touched that so many people came together to make that possible.  We love the Twirly Girls!  Here are some photos of our fun trip to the city!

The Lovely Rita Fundraiser was a HUGE success!!

I am at a loss for words.  This never happens.  First off, I want to thank everyone who helped get the Lovely Rita fundraiser set-up.  Bel and Kristin especially really spent the final two days before the event tied to the studio.  Daisy saved the day by bringing flowers and food for poor Bel who was too busy to even feed herself!  I am amazed.  Touched.  Excited.  In awe.  And exhausted. 

We had a few minutes of panic last week when the volcano erupted in Iceland and the volcanic ash in the air affected flights all over Europe.  Rita was "stuck" in Ireland for an extra day.  Luckily, she got out only 24 hours late...five days later, some people are still waiting to fly to or from Europe.   And poor Rita was only home a little over 24 hours when she had to come play with us -- dealing with jet lag from a good 8 hour time difference. 

Rita set a goal to raise $750 for her walk.  I believe she already has about $200 on her kidney walk page.  The Lovely Rita Fundraiser at Twirly Girls brought in an additional $2,700!!  The generosity of everyone who was involved -- whether it was time or money...we appreciate it and we love you.  Thank you to Bel for your time and for volunteering your studio for this.  We had donations for silent auction and raffle gifts (please see my previous post for the companies that donated -- although we had donations coming in up until the time we started!).  We had donations to buy raffle tickets and to take classes.  I'm almost afraid to name people because I don't want to forget anyone.  But I do want to again thank Kristin for swooping in and saving the day when time was getting short and Bel needed help with the silent auction and raffle preparation.  Also, thank you to Andrea for her donation of such beautiful clothing from Susana of Paris.  Thank you to Marilyn for donating her time to prepare and perform two dances at the recital (and donating personal training sessions for the raffle!!).  To Hooman from Alice Radio for coming out to support us and for making the winning bid on the date with our Raiderette, Jovann (and, of course, thank you to Jovann for putting herself up on the auction block)! Ok.  Ok.  I could go on all day.  There are a lot of people to thank and we want each and every one of you to know that we appreciate the time and money you each donated to support a great cause.  So, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!  :-D 

Our day began with two classes taught by Marilyn -- Corelicious and the Oooh La La burlesque dance class.  Bel then taught the Lovely Rita Pole routine.  Unfortunately, Kat's go go class had to be canceled.  She spent the weekend in the hospital with her mother.  Her mom, coincidentally, is battling kidney failure.  We wish the best for Kat's mom...and hope she has a speedy recovery.  The silent auction opened at 4 p.m. and we started the dance recital at 5.  It can be very scary to put yourself out there and dance for strangers.  I was really nervous to do my own dance and had to apologize to the crowd sitting in the corner for basically showing them all what I had for lunch that day.  HELLLOOOOOO BOOOOOYS!  IN YO FACE.  haha!  Thanks for being great sports!  Loved the Ooh La La girls -- Marilyn, Kristin and Sam!  Andrea even performed for us with her injured hip!  A huge thank you to Gina for braving a solo to what she must have thought was the longest song in the world!  Marilyn and Lisa did a great doubles performance.  Kristin, Maryam and I did the Lovely Rita routine.  And Rita, Maryam, Daisy and Mandy did a great free dance.  Hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone!  The grand finale was AWESOME!  Each of the Twirly Girls gave Rita a flower and did a little twirl in her honor.  I really hope someone got it on video.  I know that Maryam's husband had a good seat and did get photos.  I will share them when I get them. 

All of our Twirly Girls came through, though.  And thank you to all of the husbands and boyfriends who share their time with us (and allow their girls to share so much time with us)!

It's not too late to donate!  Rita's kidney walk is May 8th in San Francisco.  Please click HERE to donate directly to the National Kidney Foundation (through Rita's page).  If you want to come walk with us, you are welcome to join our group.  No need to sign up or get donations!  Also, if you donated an item for auction/raffle or bought something at the fundraiser and did not get your receipt, please let me know and we will get one to you. 

Next up...Booty Parlor fun with Mandy this Friday night and the Pleasanton Street Party, which begins on Cinco de Mayo!

The Lovely Rita National Kidney Foundation Fundraiser

http://sites.google.com/site/twirlygirlfundraiser/

As some of you have heard (many, many times, I'm sure!), Sunday, April 18th, the Twirly Girls studio is hosting a fundraiser for Rita's National Kidney Foundation walk (her walk is May 8th in San Francisco).  Ladies, now is your chance to try out pole dancing (or a dance class).  Gentlemen, there will be a dance recital (with a raffle and silent auction of some pretty cool prizes) in the evening and you will be allowed into our normally very private world!  In the meantime, ladies, if you are interested in signing up for the day classes, here's the schedule!  Keep in mind that all of the money goes to the National Kidney Foundation!

10 AM - Core-licious with Marilyn
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

11:30 AM - Ooohhh La La Chair/Burlesque Dance with Marilyn
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

1 PM - Lovely Rita Pole Routine with Bel
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

2:30 PM - GoGo Dance with Kat
One person for $20 or bring a friend it's only $30 for both of you! 

3:30 -6 PM - Silent Auction

5-6 PM - Twirly Girls Dance recital!  (Ladies, your men are welcome at this event!)

Class sizes will be limited, so please contact Bel if you are interested in signing up. 
http://www.twirlygirlspolefitness.com/calendar.html
(510) 828-3447

I will put together a list of the raffle prizes soon.  If you're interested, I can sell you tickets (they're extremely reasonably priced and we have some AWESOME prizes).  Raffle ticket prices are as follows:  3 for $5...8 for $10...20 for $20!

If you can't make a class, or you'd like to donate to the cause, please visit my other blog entry (see below).  There is a link for Rita's page there and you can donate directly to the NKF.

http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2010/03/our-twirly-girls-support-national.html

Our Twirly Girls support the National Kidney Foundation

Our very own Rita Pearson is a three-time kidney transplant recipient.  You'd never know she was "sick" by the way she lives her life.  Wife, mother, friend, knower-of-all-cool-techie-stuff.  She currently has THREE kidneys in her body, although I understand, only one is working properly.  She doesn't really like to talk about it, but I understand she wasn't supposed to live past 20.  Definitely wasn't supposed to have kids (hello!!!!! to her 13-year-old daughter, Kate).  I tell you this not to get sympathy for Rita, but to show you that she's a fighter and a survivor. 

Rita is participating in a 5k Kidney Walk to support the National Kidney Foundation on Saturday, May 8, 2010 in San Francisco.  Check out her page to donate. 

In order to support Rita, Twirly Girls is putting on a day of twirling to support healthy kidneys!  On Sunday, April 18th, the studio is going to offer several classes throughout the day (the schedule is still being finalized), with all of the proceeds going to support Rita's cause.  At the end of the day, some of the girls from the studio will be putting on a "dance recital" of sorts.  It will be a demonstration of the different levels and abilities of some of the dancers from the studio.  Please keep in mind that we are a POLE FITNESS studio, not a strip club.  Men will be welcome to attend our performance, but we will not be accepting dollars in our g-strings (not that most of us probably wear one -- or maybe I should just speak for myself).  Anyway, we will happily take your dollars, but they will 100% support the cause, and those dollars will have to be respectfully placed in a fish bowl or something.  :-)  We also ask those who would like to attend to keep in mind that most of us are beginners, and are nervous about putting ourselves out there.  So be nice. 

Attendance at the recital will be limited to about 30 people.  If you are interested in attending, please let me know.  We have not set a time, but I imagine it will take place somewhere between 4 PM and 6 PM on Sunday, April 18th.  Also, we are going to have a silent auction.  If you have a business you would like to promote and can donate an item or service, please let me know as well.  (My e-mail address is tazzie2010@yahoo.com if you'd like to get in touch.) 

We have also been throwing around the idea of making shirts to support the cause.  (Bel's boyfriend, Doug is working on a design, but I was thinking something along the lines of: "Have Kidney, Will Twirl" or "iTwirl for Healthy Kidneys").  If you'd like to buy a shirt to support the cause, let me know that as well! 

I want to thank Bel at Twirly Girls Pole Fitness for graciously offering to give up 100% of the proceeds from the entire day on April 18th to Rita's cause.  So many times you hear about benefits where they give up 100% of the "profit."  Funny how much money they can eat up with their own fees and costs.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.  And please mark Sunday, April 18th on your calendar!  Its going to be an awesome day!!