by Bella Caggiano

In Norwood, residents dance to celebrate the arrival of spring! On Friday, April 7, six local residents will take to the ballroom in the 2023 Norwood Circle of Hope Dancing with the Norwood Stars! The event will take place at the Four Points by Sheraton, 1125 Boston-Providence Hgwy., 7 p.m. Competing this year to take home the coveted Disco Ball Trophy are: Matt Lane, Abigail Tierney, Isaac Romero, Carlei McDermott and Steve Schatvet.

Two winners will be crowned this special evening: an Overall Winner for the person who raises the most money and the Judges Choice for the best single dance.

For the past few months, the dancers have been holding fundraisers around town to raise money for their team to win as the Overall Winner. They have also spent hours practicing with professional dancers from the Fred Astaire Dance Studio, in Norwood, to win that coveted Judges Choice award!

Meet this year’s contestants!

 

Matthew Lane

Upon graduating from the same college as Paul Newman (Kenyon College in Ohio), I moved to Chicago and met my wife there. After 10 years in the Windy City, we decided to move back to my home state of Massachusetts and start a family. We chose Norwood as the place to plant our roots and have lived here happily since the spring of 2011. I work for a non-profit Volunteers of America Massachusetts as their Vice President of Real Estate Development (think group homes, veterans services, and shelters; not high rises or mega-mansions). My wife of fifteen years, Lynn, is an elementary school teacher in Newton and seems to tolerate me on most occasions. My children are students at the Cleveland Elementary School and are equally embarrassed to see their dad attempt to dance.

After participating as a town meeting member and on several municipal committees, I decided to run for local office in February of 2020 (which seems like a hundred years ago) and was elected to the Board of Selectmen in June of that year. Norwood has always been a deeply welcoming community that cares and supports people who’ve been dealt a bad hand. I am proud to help contribute to the fundraising efforts that provide assistance to our neighbors in need. The Circle of Hope is truly one of the things that makes this town such a special place and I am honored to be a part of this great event. 

 

Steve Schatvet

I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in Sharon, Massachusetts where I was the second oldest of eight children. Like most young boys, I was influenced by what I watched on television, so I became interested in motorcycles, fast exotic cars and martial arts. After graduating from Sharon High School I became a Martial Arts Instructor. My day began at 6 am training myself until noon. I spent afternoons and evenings teaching classes. Most days I was training in some capacity eight to twelve hours a day. This vigorous training and discipline led me to own and operate karate schools in South Norwood and Mansfield. These schools were very successful with over 600 students. I competed in and won many regional and national tournaments. I held after school and summer programs for children and teenagers. I have trained public safety personnel in local, state and federal agencies. During my career I have given private instructions and demonstrations to various organizations and businesses. During this time I organized and managed many Martial Arts Retreats. Regionally I ran many karate tournaments with over 2000 competitors and spectators, where people came from all over the world. I was the head judge at many regional and national tournaments. Teaching is my passion and it is what I have been doing for the past 48 years. Currently, I teach senior adult exercise and Tai Chi classes at the Norwood Senior Center. The classes are extremely successful with 40 to 60 participants in attendance. In 2020, Norwood Media started airing my classes on the local channel and they have been well received and are very popular. I enjoy going out to eat, attending car shows, listening to music, and dancing.

 

Isaac Romero

My name is Isaac Romero and I am 36 years old. I was born in Honduras and then entered the United States in 2009. My first job in this country was and still is at the Café’ Venice in South Norwood as a cook. Some things I like to do when I have some free time are:

• Dance

• Travel with family and friends to Old Orchard Beach in the summer and Florida in the winter. This allows me to have beach time year-round.

• On Tuesday nights I belong to a mens bowling league at the Norwood Sports Center, and I have been doing this for 7 years. Over these years I have made many new friends.

• One of my favorite things is going home after work and playing with my puppy.

I just want to thank everyone for giving me this opportunity to help support the Circle of Hope Foundation!

 

Carlei McDermott

My name is Carlei McDermott. I was born Carlei DiMarzo, to Charlie and Donnamarie DiMarzo in 1984 at Norwood Hospital. My roots run deep in our town. The DiMarzo family settled in Norwood in 1914. Andre DiMarzo, my father’s grandfather, was a master tailor. He moved his family to Norwood where he then opened his own tailoring business in South Norwood, on Washington Street. The rest is history... I love my town, my community, our undeniable loyalty to each other. Here is where home is, and I am happy to help those in our great town; NORWOOD!

 

Abigail Tierney

Hi everyone! My name is Abi, I am so honored to be a dancer this year! A little about me... I was born and raised in Norwood. I am a proud Mustang as a product of Norwood Public Schools, graduating from Norwood High in 2015. I was lucky

enough to work my first ever jobs at the Honey Dew Donuts inside Mr. Franks, as well as working as a camp counselor for Norwood Recreation Department at the Hawes Play Camp for a number of years! From there I went to UMass Amherst where I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry, leading to where I am today as a Biochemist at Siemens Healthineers, in Walpole manufacturing blood assays. Keep an eye out for our logo next time you get blood work done! In addition to my day job, I bartend and waitress at a local favorite restaurant, Lewis’! My parents are Terese O’Connor Tierney of Norwood and Rick Tierney of Dedham. My mom, Terese, is the oldest of 5, a long time nurse, and grew up on Woodland Road. Sometimes it seems as if she knows everyone in town! My dad was one of 8, growing up in Riverdale of Dedham, a retired Dedham fire fighter as well as the best handyman I knew! We lost my dad in 2017 to a hard fought battle with cancer. Norwood is such an amazing community that I am fortunate to be a part of, this town truly is like no other. I am so honored to be a part of this year’s Dancing with the Norwood Stars and be able to contribute to such a marvelous organization! Thank you so much to everyone who donated!

The event will be broadcasted live through Norwood Community Media (NCM) at satellite locations where people can cast their vote for their favorite dancer, or on Norwood’s local programming station. The satellite locations are: Olde Colonial Cafe, Nahatan St.; Colonial House, Savin Ave.; Lewis,’ Central St; and Café Venice, Washington St.  Check for your local station at norwoodcommunitymedia.org to view through your cable company.

Previous Dancing with the Stars champions:

2009 - Missy Sansone

2010 - Carolyn Riccardi

2011 - Jack Perry

2012 - Jeanne Babel

2013 - Tommy McCready

2014 - Susan Bunker

2015 - John Rogers

2016 - Jay White

2017 - Christine Kiklas

2018 - Alex Brown

2019 - Michelle Sheehan

2022 - Tracey Curran

The Dancing with the Norwood Stars event in the biggest fundraiser for the Norwood Circle of Hope Foundation, a local, all-volunteer organization that raises money for local residents who need financial assistance due to a catastrophic medical occurrence. The foundation was established in 1998 in memory of Michelle Kennedy, a young Norwood resident, who suffered with leukemia. During Michelle’s battle the entire Norwood community, many of whom did not know Michelle, joined together and it is in that spirit that the Norwood Circle of Hope Foundation plans to continue.

For more information on the Circle of Hope Foundation or to make a private donation, visit norwoodcoh.org, or “like” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/norwoodcoh. The organization’s address is: P.O. Box 421, Norwood, MA 02062.