Please read the entire obituary here as it appeared in the Record -Eagle.

Mary Jean Brick, Community Living Center Founder

There was more than one wet eye at the Opera House this month as a crowd of SwingShift and the Stars goers

delivered a standing ovation to Mary Jean Brick, founder of the region’s Community Living Center.

The passionate lifelong advocate for people with special needs was on hand to cheer dancers Pete Currie and Erin Gallagher Peck, representing the Community Living Foundation in the SwingShift fund-raiser for area charities. But the tables were turned when Pete surprised Mary Jean with some heartfelt comments from the dance floor, and Erin presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

That presentation was actually the second of the night for the CLF. The first was a glitzy dance shoe with the #10 (dance judge’s perfect score), given to Erin and Pete by Jake Gustavson, a CLC resident and subject of a moving video spotlighting the CLC as one of the evening’s two featured charities. The shoe was presented following the dancers’ featured performance.

(From left) Mary Jean Brick, CLC founder; Judy Harrison, creator of the SwingShift And The Stars competition for regional charities; and Pete Currie, dancer for the Community Living Foundation. (Photos by Mike Drilling, Windbourne Studios Inc.)

All that emotion turned to support as the crowd responded with a record night of donations to their favorite charities. Final tallies showed revenues of $8,076.50 for the CLF alone, making it the top fund-raiser of the evening, and bringing the NPO’s total to $14,490.41.

To date, over $43,000 has been raised by the charity dance event, according to organizer Judy Harrision. (For a complete tally and dance results: www.swingshiftandthestars.com.)

Tickets are now available for the event’s grand finale to be held New Year’s Eve.

They can be purchased online through Treat, the community’s online arts and cultural ticketing system.

Photo courtesy of Mike Drilling, Windborne Studios Inc. of Traverse City. Official photographer of the 2009 Swingshift And The Stars Competition.

Now that two events are behind them and two on tap (December 4th and New Year’s Eve), amateur dancer Pete and his instructor partner Erin have proved to be winners on and off the dance floor.

“We’re thrilled with the amount of money raised by our dancers to date,” notes MaryAnne Macy, Community Living Center Executive Director.  “But our turn in the spotlight is coming up December 4th, and we’re hoping for a large turnout of CLC supporters to cheer Pete and Erin, and help raise funds for our foundation.”

This fall’s second annual competition has raised over $25,000 for six regional charities.
Two charities are spotlighted at each competition.

November’s event at the downtown City Opera House resulted in a virtual sold out house.  And tickets for the remaining two events are already limited, according to SwingShift organizers.

(For more information, read on; or visit www.swingshiftandthestars.com for a complete breakdown of earnings and dance results.)

Amateur dancer Pete Currie will be representing the Community Living Foundation

TRAVERSE CITY, MI  – There was plenty of jump, jivin’ and wailin’ Friday evening, September 4th, as the walls of the over 100 year-old restored downtown City Opera House reverberated to the sounds of swing music and dancers.

The occasion was the kick off of the second annual “Swingshift and the Stars” dance competition, a fund raising and public awareness event that pairs six regional charities with a like number of local celebs and their dance instructors.

Amateur dancer Pete Currie will be representing the Community Living Foundation  in the four-event dance series, and he’s paired with local choreographer Erin (Gallagher) Peck.  For their first competition at the Opera House Friday, October 2nd, they’ll be dancing the Latin dance—the Cha Cha Cha.

Click here to read the entire story and view photos of the competition.