Community Linear Park trail opens at Brevard Zoo — Page 5
VETERANS
B U S IN E S S
Making Honor Flight possible — Page 39
Mom entrepreneur offers drip-free summer — Page 31
ThinkingCAMPS SUMMER Register for
summer fun
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Newspaper of Viera & Suntree...........BLUEWATER CREATIVE GROUP M AY 2 0 1 4
v i s i t v i e ravoi ce. com
VOLUME 8 ISSUE 4
Dancing trumps shyness for cause By linda wiggins
VIERA VOICE Linda Wiggins
Businessman Samir Patel and dancer Taylor Gallaher hope their performance wins the gold for KLD at-risk youth at the 2014 Dancing With Brevard event at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31 at Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando.
As owner and general manager of the Holiday Inn Melbourne-Viera Conference Center, Samir Patel is best known as a quiet, hard-working businessman. So when he accepted the invitation to perform in the Dancing With Brevard 2014 fundraiser on Saturday, May 31, it took some by surprise. “At first he was very stiff and timid,” said Taylor Gallaher, his professional dance partner and instructor at Melbourne Ballroom in Suntree. “I thought, my goodness, this is not going to work out, and here I want him to do a swing routine where he has to be really out there, jumping around and extroverted.” What made Patel step out of his comfort zone to help at-risk teens served by the KLD Youth Foundation school on Merritt Island, which will benefit from the event? “I get asked a lot to help out in the community, and when it is something I feel is vitally important, I usually don’t say no,” said Patel, whose friends on the KLD board urged him to take part. “But yes, I am best known for serving behind the scenes and I am very low key,” said Patel, who serves a similar population as a member of the Brevard board for Devereux Florida, which has a residential school in Viera for children with emotional challenges. Several months and many lessons and rehearsals later, look out. We are going to see a Patel that will knock the socks off viewers, Gallaher said. “That determination to succeed in business? He applies it to learning our dance routine,” Gallaher said. “People have to come and watch because they won’t believe what their eyes are seeing.” The more tickets sold, the more money donated, and the more people who vote for Patel and Gallaher, the greater chance
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