Dancers are practicing their moves in preparation for Dancing with the Freeborn-Mower Stars this weekend.

Seven pairings will dance this Saturday at the contest. Two of those pairings, Ellen and Matt Raleigh and Amy Gauthier and Jeff Strom, spent Wednesday afternoon rehearsing at Northbridge Mall. Other dancers are Brigitte Campbell, Jake Vela, Jennifer Sims, Neil Belshan, Raquel Hellman, Steve Caron, Jessica Cabeen, John Gray, Emily Troe and Dylan Kaercher.

Gauthier, an administrative assistant at the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, and partner Strom, a lieutenant with the Albert Lea Police Department, will perform a waltz. The Raleighs are set to perform a rumba. Ellen is a fitness instructor at the YMCA, and her husband owns Raleigh Ace Hardware in Albert Lea.

All four dancers agreed that, while it’s been a lengthy time commitment, getting ready for the contest has been enjoyable. They’ve been taking dance lessons once a week for the past 10 weeks and have practiced on their own. Gauthier and Strom said they’ve danced about four times a week outside of their weekly lesson, and the Raleighs said they practice about two times a week outside of lessons.

“Dancing was not my thing,” said Matt. “The practices have been more fun than I thought they’d be.”

The couple said that the experience has been something else for them to do together and said they’ve made a sort of date night out of their weekly lessons.

“It’s a fun, new thing to do together,” said Ellen.

For Gauthier, who’s somewhat new to Albert Lea, dancing has helped get her more involved within the community and has helped her meet new people.

“It’s really reached out into new aspects of my personal life,” she said.

The dance will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at Albert Lea High School. Doors open at 6 p.m. Reserved seating tickets cost $20 while general admission is $10. Tickets can be purchased at Hy-Vee in both Albert Lea and Austin and can also be purchased at the door. The proceeds go to the American Red Cross chapter for Freeborn and Mower counties.

“It’s all for a good cause,” Gauthier said.

“Especially since it benefits disaster relief, too,” Strom said. With all the rain the area’s been experiencing and is expected to see still, the fundraiser potentially benefiting flood resources comes to mind for Strom.

“Fundraising can be difficult but needs to be done,” Matt said.

There are three awards the dancers can win. One is based on how much money each pairing can raise, between the weeks leading up to the event and the night of the competition itself. A fishbowl will be put out for each pair, and audience members can place their donations in each bowl, along with the donations the dancers have already collected. The pair to raise the most money wins the fundraising award.

The next award is chosen by the audience. Spectators can vote by placing their tickets stubs in the bowl of the dancers they like best, and the ones with the most tickets will win the award for audience choice.

The third award is given out by the judges based on their scoring of the dancers’ routines. This year the judges will be KAAL-TV morning crew Ellery McCardle, Jim Peterson and Kenny King, while Jay Paul of KQPR-FM radio will be master of ceremonies.

This Saturday’s event will be the eighth Dancing with the Stars fundraiser. The dancers are typically different each year, and are usually recommended by past dancers. Those interested in participating in future events can call the American Red Cross chapter in Austin or can talk to any volunteers at the contest Saturday.

“I’d definitely suggest other people try it,” Strom said.