Going to the event on Feb 5? Be ready to cheer on your favorite dancer with custom fan gear!  Package includes Big Head, custom team mask, and more. Package will be waiting for you at event check-in.  

From an early age, Graham Kostic found joy in the theater - often spending his grade school days rehearsing and performing at the Municipal Opera Theater in St. Louis. His love for the theater arts continued throughout his life, playing and originating varied roles along the way.  After studying journalism in college, Graham became Style Editor for Chicago Social magazine.  Soon after, he developed Glossed & Found, a digital video magazine, where he made a name for himself interviewing everyone from Cynthia Rowley to Miss Piggy, as well as anyone he found interesting along the way. 

Enchanted by the idea of more green space, Graham and his husband Fran moved to Barrington four years ago.  He puts his many talents to use as the choreographer for Barrington High School’s Theater department, and he has recently dedicated time to choreograph and direct pieces for the Special Education department at BHS.  Graham is the proud father of Romeo who turned two this summer, and through him, Graham’s love of theater and dance is reborn daily.  Graham is honored to be performing alongside his new friend Jess in the name of Bacoa. 

Barrington resident Jessica Green is excited to throw on her dancing shoes in support

of Bacoa in this year’s Dancing with the Barrington Stars. An alumna of Barrington High School and a proud founding member of the Barrington Dance Ensemble (circa1989!), Jessica’s familiar (albeit a little rusty) with the studio and stage. She and her husband, Dominic keep busy raising their sons Henry and Oliver, and are engaged in the Barrington and Chicago-land communities leading and supporting bridge-building initiatives that champion inclusion and belonging such as Interfaith Youth Core, the local series A Year of Courageous Conversations and Barrington Civic Leaders. Jessica also serves in many different positions of family leadership for The Duchossois Group including Vice President of The Duchossois Family Foundation.

Jessica Hutchison, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, trauma and grief specialist, and founder of My Red Said, a mental health awareness campaign to increase hope that things can, and will, get better. She speaks nationally about the psychological implications of grief and loss, and trains mental health professionals on how invisible trauma alters our ability to cope with loss.

When she is not advocating for mental health, she is home with her husband and two children, Annabelle (8) and Austin (5). You will often find them dancing in the kitchen as there is little that can't be fixed with a good ole dance party. As her father always said, "Just keep dancing...don't sit any out." Jessica is honored to be a part of the Bacoa family!

Jessica will be dancing with Marcus Hardy, a multi-disciplined dancer/choreographer with Inaside Chicago Dance.  This is Marcus' fifth year participating in Dancing with the Barrington Stars.  

Karen Lambert has been President of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital for the last 20 years.  Karen and her husband, Jack, call Barrington home and raised 3 children here.  Advocate Good Shepherd has a rich history with Bacoa, partnering on several initiatives.  Bacoa’s leadership in serving and addressing the needs of our seniors is the only reason Karen is willing to dance in front of such an audience!  Be kind!

Dr. Barry Rosen is a breast surgical oncologist at Good Shepherd Hospital, where he has been in practice for over 25 years, which for 20 years included working alongside Karen as the Chief Medical Officer. Having recently stepped down from that position, he now has the opportunity to partner with Karen for this wonderful cause without worrying about losing his job (only his pride). 

Dr Jeanne Novas has practiced as an OBGYN physician and lived in Barrington for 32 years.  She has served in various charities in the area, including her family’s church, St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox church, in Palatine.  Mr. Al Busano has a background in finance and currently owns and operates a renewable energy engineering company.  Jeanne and Al enjoy travelling and spending time with their 2 grown sons who live nearby. They both have cared for their aging parents and appreciate the importance of helping with elder care in the community.  Jeanne and Al often dance together socially, but they have never taken any lessons and look forward to dancing for a good cause.

Hagop Soulakian aka “Hags” is a business teacher at Barrington High School who helped launch the very successful Incubator program after being hired 9 years ago. This program, supported by the Educational Foundation, is designed to provide its students with a unique learning experience through curriculum, real world application and community relationships. Hags has also been a coach for the high school baseball program for 9 years and is currently the Head Freshmen Baseball Coach. Prior to coming to Barrington, Hagop spent 15 years as a commodity trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He is also very active in his Armenian community, serving in a variety of leadership positions. Arpik has been teaching Kindergarten and first grade for 23 years and is currently the school board chairperson at their Armenian Saturday School.  She is also a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars.  Hagop and Arpik have been married for 21 years and they have two daughters, Aleen (18) and Sophia (14).

Fr. Joji Thanugundla is originally from the city of Hyderabad in South India, and he was ordained a priest in 1994. Fr. Joji has been working as a Priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago since 1997, serving in Chicago, Oak Lawn, Arlington Heights, and now Barrington.  As an Associate Pastor at Saint Anne, he enjoys all aspects of pastoral ministry. Fr. Joji says “I love being a Priest.”  While also skilled in soccer, ping-pong and Baggo, Fr. Joji is best known for his ability to connect with people.  Always looking to form relationships and serve others, Fr. Joji is grateful for the wonderful parishioners of Saint Anne and for the Barrington community as a whole. 

Fr. Joji is excited to participate in this Bacoa event to raise funds for area Seniors. He is getting to know so many generous and loving people in the Barrington area, and he is thrilled to support this important community organization by taking a turn on the dance floor.   

Take a chance on winning this beautiful 14K White Gold Diamond Necklace, 1.00 carat total weight.  Valued at $2,600.

Donated by Long & Co. Jewlers.

Winner will be contacted to coordinate prize pickup at the Bacoa office.  

Take home this fabulous upgrade to your at-home workouts.  The Mirror is so sleek and refined that all you need is two feet of wall space to turn any room in your house to a personal fitness studio.  Stream fitness classes for the whole family direct to your Mirror.  

Prize valued at $995*

Monthly subscription not included.

Winner will be contacted to coordinate prize pickup at the Bacoa office.