Jeans, boots and vests were in, starched shirts were out at Knollwood Country Club in Lake Forest last weekend. About 140 people chowed down on quesadillas, then worked off the calories by line dancing, all in the name of Connection, the Libertyville-based organization that operates Lake County’s crisis line and PADS emergency shelters.
“It’s great. Relaxing. Nice people,” said Lake Bluff Mayor Fred Wacker III. “It’s not pretentious.” Wacker and wife Sprite arrived just in time to promenade in the Eighteen Wheeler.
It was one of the few partner dances taught by Steve Miller, dance instructor for the Sundance Saloon country-western bar in Mundelein.
Miller talked the crowd through the Chattahoochee. “Swivel. Swivel. Don’t panic,” he said.
A stepping, foot-slapping and swiveling Lake Forest Plan Commissioner Larry Temple didn’t panic, even when he bumped a neighbor.
“It’s great once you get the rhythm. And if you lose a step, just wait until the next quarter-turn,” he said.
Temple’s wife Marsha, a benefit committee member, took a minute to watch from the sidelines. “He thinks because he trades cattle, he’s a cowboy,” she said with a laugh. Larry Temple trades on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The floor was crowded, much to the relief of benefit co-chairwoman Patty Fitzgerald and Connection executive director Jackie Smith, both of Lake Forest. “We weren’t sure if the older people would sit on the side watching and only the younger people try it. But they’re all out there,” Smith said.
“It’s going wonderfully well,” Fitzgerald said, pleased with the turnout and funds raised. She pointed out that the event was only the second fundraiser held by the benefit committee, a group of 20 women from Lake Forest, Lake Bluff and Highland Park who got together two years ago to raise funds and public awareness of Connection activities.
Sponsors, private donations, tickets and raffles brought in about $10,000, up from $8,000 raised last year.