Performers take the stage for food bank fundraiser

Springwater Grange show features dinner, entertainment on Saturday

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, Nov 18, 2009, Updated Nov 18, 2009

Evan Jensen / Estacada News

The Sugar Babies will be among the lineup of performers, musicians, dancers and entertainers at the Springwater Grange on Saturday for a show organized to raise money for the Estacada Area Food Bank. Elaine Leatham's A Touch of Class Experience, "A Musical Review," begins with dinner at 6 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m.

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On Saturday, Nov. 21, Estacada’s Springwater Grange will be transformed into a destination place from yesteryear where Broadway-style musicals, vaudeville dancing and slapstick humor will entertain the audience in Elaine Leatham’s A Touch of Class Experience, “A Musical Revue.”

Leatham has hosted the dinner and show for 30 consecutive years to raise money for the Estacada Food Bank and recruited a talented cast of dancers, performers and singers for the show.

“There’s a little bit of everything in this show,” Leatham said. “A little bit of comedy, a little bit of singing, lots of dancing and musical numbers. There’s a little bit of everything for everybody.”

In one number, a group of 10 Leatham-trained children dance to a number from the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical “Cats,” and another act pays tribute to the 60s era TV show “I Dream of Jeannie,” with a performance by the local belly dance troupe the Soul Fire Sisters. The show will also feature a performance by the Claudette Walker Dancers, a military salute, dancing to music by the Spice Girls, audience participation and a variety of other entertaining acts.

“This show is in the works for an entire year,” Leatham said. “As soon as the last show is done, I take a couple weeks off and then start listening to music to begin planning the next show. I choose the music, figure out the routines and keep it all straight in my head.”

Leatham is a trained dancer and performer who traveled extensively earlier in her career performing at various venues across the country. She taught dance lessons to students for years in Estacada, once hosted a show featuring Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding at the Cazadero Inn and has hosted an annual fundraising show at the Springwater Grange to raise money for the community for three decades.

“I’ve been a dancer all my life,” Leatham said. “My parents were in show business, so that’s what I know. That’s what I love. I hope that by the time I hit 90, I’ll still be doing it. … I enjoy dancing for the pure pleasure of it. It’s a high. It’s freedom. It’s a gift to be able to create something on stage for others to enjoy.”

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