July 10, 2011

2nd year tops $6K for SSC Fund

In 2010 two people from the United Court of Dallas sought to produce a "bought title pageant" with the emphasis on having a lot of fun, but also raising a lot of money in the process. Marshall Styers and Craig Bolson produced the first "Divine Diva/Debonair Divo" Contest with 8 contestants and raised over $3,000.00 for charity. The venture was very successful, so they decided to try it again and this year Marshall and Craig surpassed last year's amount… they raised over $6000.00 for the Sharon St Cyr Fund which buys hearing aids for those with hearing limitations.

The evening started at the Dallas Eagle with a light buffet and then quickly swung into the contest. This year the contestants increased to 13. Two weeks prior to the contest, each contestant had been provided a CD with 24 different numbers that they could potentially perform. The contestants did not know what song they would be performing as this was a blind draw. As the contest began, some performed solo, some were paired with others for a "sing off" and then others remained in the contest to go directly to the semi finals (but no one knew where they would be in this). Each contestant was guaranteed two rounds to compete with money and judges scores combined moving them to the next levels. "Tally-Masters" and "Money Counters" worked feverishly to add up all of the scores. The winners were:

•  Mr. Debonair Divo 2011 Emperor XXIII Shane Price of Corpus Christi
•  1st Runner Up to Mr. Debonair Divo Boy Adam from Dallas
•  Miss Divine Diva 2011 Princess XXIV Karamel from Corpus Christi
•  1st Runner Up Miss Divine Diva Empress XXXI Paige Diva Daniels from Ft Worth

Said Marshall Styers"… the evening and contest took on a life of its own, we hoped that everyone would have fun and we could raise some money, but we were just amazed." Craig Bolson, who is completing his second year as a Court member, commented "(I) can hardly wait for next year's contest, it will be bigger and better!"

The Sharon St. Cyr Fund was the recipient of the evenings fundraising efforts. The fund was founded by Dallas resident and Mr. IML 2009 Jeffrey Payne, to benefit those in our community who have hearing limitations. Jeffrey Payne is a very dedicated member of the Dallas Gay Community, he is active in the Leather Community, a part owner of the Dallas Eagle and an avid supporter of the Court System and in particular the Dallas Court.

Only time will tell what Marshall and Craig will do with their "Divine Diva/Debonair Divo" Contest. The Dallas Court and the Dallas Community are honored to have these two members!

Submitted By Don/na Dumae
July 10, 2011