Oxford's Kenny Hazlewood Set To Compete In Boys and Girls Club's "Dancing Like The Stars"

On Saturday, September 23, 2017, Oxford’s Kenny Hazlewood will be taking the stage for the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Mississippi’s “Dancing Like the Stars” event at the BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo. Along with ten other contestants, Hazlewood is currently practicing multiple times a week with a professional dancer to compete for bragging rights and to help bring funding to the Boys and Girls Club.
Each dancer is asked to raise $20,000, which makes this the biggest fundraising event of the year for the BGCNMS. 
While Hazlewood may not be a regular on the dance floor, he didn’t hesitate when he had the opportunity to get involved.
“I am not a dancer, that’s for sure,” Hazlewood laughed. “I wanted to help. I’ve got an 11-year-old in 6th grade, along with my dad teaching at OIS right across from the [Boys and Girls Club] building. It’s something I see — the impact they make every day. I know the good that they do, so I wanted to do my part. I was happy to get involved.”
Kenny’s wife, Kaytee, was a somewhat shocked when she found out that her husband was embracing the bright lights of the competition, but she is doing her part to help Kenny. They want to help in any way they can because they both realize what the Boys and Girls Club provides to the community.
“He can move a little bit, but he’s not Justin Timberlake, that’s for sure,” Kaytee playfully said. “We had figure out what kind of dance he wanted to do. We had to do our homework watching YouTube videos of [the tv show] “Dancing with the Stars” because we had no idea what we were doing.”
Thankfully for Kenny, each contestant works with a professional dancer. His partner, Lauryn Sperling is a grad student at Ole Miss. This is her second time participating in the event, and she is grateful for the opportunity to help out.
“Being a part of this event is an absolute pleasure, I enjoy working with the community and having worked at camps as a kid, I love working with kids and doing my part to help the Boys and Girls Club,” Sperling said.

Kenny and Lauryn eventually decided on an East Coast swing-style dance to Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” The pair meets for several hours a week to prepare their routine. 
While budgets are running low, the number of children that rely on BGCNMS is increasing. The donations from the event will aid the Boys and Girls Club with funding for various programs, the facilities, and more.
To make a donation to Kenny Hazlewood, purchase tickets to the event to watch him dance live, or learn more about the event, click here.

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Steven Gagliano is the managing editor of HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at steven.gagliano@hottytoddy.com.