It is time to pick out your Pagosa finest dress threads, dust off the bling, and mark your calendar to attend the star-studded event of the summer, the 7th annual ‘Dancing with the Pagosa Stars’.
On August 17 local Pagosa celebrities will slip into their costumes and dance their hearts out, competing to raise critically needed funds for Seeds of Learning.
The stars of ‘Dancing with the Pagosa Stars’ will be matched with a talented coach who will lead them through this performance of a life-time to support Pagosa’s Seeds of Learning.
Three of these fabulous stars are Ramon Badell, Bo DePena and Roy Tinguely. These three male stars will be joined with three female stars to compete for the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy.
Ramon Badell
Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, Badell was honored to receive a scholarship to study engineering at the University of Kansas. There, he met his wife, Dennise. They have two sons, both extremely intelligent, very good looking, musically talented — and single. After Badell worked as an automation engineer for the oil industry for nearly 40 years, he retired and the couple moved to Pagosa Springs in 2020.
Music has always been an important part of Badell’s life. He sings and plays guitar as well as many Latin percussion instruments. While living in Kansas City, Badell co-founded the band Son Venezuela, an inductee in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. In Pagosa, he plays in two local bands: Out On Work Release and Mountain Alibi.
Bo DePena
DePena was born in the town of Laredo, Texas, and spent his college career perusing a degree in business administration at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After completing his MBA in Austin, Texas, DePena began traveling the country as a singer/songwriter, playing everything from blues to folk, bluegrass, and eventually, country and western. DePena has played music in more than 25 states, most notably Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and New York.
As an example of DePena’s dedication to lifelong learning, he has recently taken up lead guitar and vocal lessons to improve his foundational skills. Voting for DePena means voting for a family that is very close to the Seeds mission.
Roy Tinguely
As someone who has probably sat in more classrooms than most over the years while becoming a doctor and surgeon, I have seen firsthand the need for having a strong base in education to grow and learn. It may sound a bit corny, but Seeds of Learning literally “plants the seeds” of lifelong learning to these young, eager minds. This is so important as it gives them the best opportunities to make learning an important habit rather than a boring, “can’t wait ‘til it’s over” chore. And as parents of five professionals, my wife Debbie and I have instilled education (aka seeds of learning) to our children from an early age.
I am so excited to be a part of Dancing with the Pagosa Stars, allowing me to give back to this amazing program. I realize the importance of an early education and Seeds of Learning offers a high-quality learning experience with dedicated and caring teachers. I feel grateful to be able to help give back to this welcoming community by dancing out of my typical comfort zone with this potentially embarrassing endeavor.
You can now go to the Seed’s website to learn more about all the stars and their coaches and vote foryour favorites. Voting is now open — start voting online today.
Each $1 vote moves a star closer to winning the fabulous trophy and bragging rights for the next year. You can vote for as many stars as you would like as many times as you want.
Proceeds from this event go to Seeds of Learning, where a sliding scale tuition is offered to meet families at their income level. Approximately 80% of the students at Seeds are at a greatly reduced tuition fee and desperately deserve a helping hand in education to succeed in life. Your contributions will allow Seeds to continue offering the high quality affordable programming that our community has come to rely on for the past 26 years!