Local ‘Thrill the World’ event helps Canine Crusaders

October 30, 2011 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Lisa Rembowski considers herself a bit shy, but don’t assume that she’s afraid to occasionally let her hair down and have a bloody good time.

“I get a bit nervous to be in front of people,” the Youngstown woman said quietly.

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop her from dressing like a zombie and being one of about 30 people who took part in Saturday’s “Thrill the World” mass dance in the parking lot of The B&O Station Banquet Hall, 530 Mahoning Ave.

The six-minute videotaped performance was to the long version of Michael Jackson’s 1982 blockbuster hit “Thriller.” The gathering also was one of hundreds of similar events that took place Saturday in cities around the world to raise money for local charities.

Volunteers from all over the globe organize “Thrill the World” dances annually for that purpose. Dancers dressed as zombies become part of an official count to try to set a world record for the “Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance” in multiple sites.

The mass dances started in 2006, and the current record was set Oct. 24 and 25, 2009, with 22,596 participants dancing in 264 cities representing 33 countries.

Saturday’s second annual local gathering was to raise funds for Canine Crusaders, a nonprofit organization that tries to save dogs at the Mahoning County Dog Pound and Adoption Center on Industrial Road in Youngstown.

Canine Crusaders also assists with pet rescues and adoptions and is dedicated to improving conditions at the pound via shelter-welfare and reform programs, according to its website.

When she’s not wearing sharp fangs and makeup simulating blood on her face and streaked through her hair, a less-scary-looking Rembowski likely is working at her job as a technician at Austintown Veterinary Clinic on state Route 46. There, she helps animals that have been struck by cars, as well as those that suffer from malnutrition, abuse and other maladies.

In addition to allowing her to be at her zombielike best, Rembowski’s participation in Saturday’s dance also gave her an opportunity to meet many like-minded people, she said.

“It’s fun to meet all kinds of people when we do this and get kids and older people involved” for a good cause, she added.

Roughly two months’ worth of practice preceded the choreographed mass dance, noted Paulina McCallum, Canine Crusaders’ founder and an event organizer.

In most respects, the local event mirrored Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, explained McCallum, who also noted that the ’09 world record occurred several months after Jackson’s death June 25 that year.

“We were kind of doing the exact same thing [as the video], except we did the extended version of the dance,” added McCallum, who also volunteers at the county dog pound.

McCallum did not state a financial goal for the dance event.