Deanna Clover is the daughter of Osceola County Farm Bureau agent Randy Hinson and a member of the 2004 Orlando Magic dance team.

By Ed Albanesi
Editor
When I first decided to write a story about Deanna Clover for inclusion in this magazine, the hook, if you will, was that the daughter of a Florida Farm Bureau insurance agent (Randy Hinson) had made the final cut and become a member of the Orlando Magic dance team.

Oh, we’ll still talk about that, but it’s no longer the hook. When I met with Deanna in a Dunkin Donuts shop on Highway 192 in Kissimmee, she told me about her appearance on ESPN2.

I knew that she has appeared on the sports network but I was sketchy on the details. Deanna filled me in as we watched others down impressive quantities of compressed calories (i.e., donuts) and drink copious amount of coffee.

She explained that she was a contestant in a reality-type competition called, “I’d Do Anything.” She competed against three dancers from other NBA teams, with the winner being awarded a prize that involved the granting of a sports-related wish for a loved one. In Deanna’s case, the loved one was her mother, Donna Hinson.

The competition might be kindly described as “crazy” and required that the women perform stunts such as alternately running laps and consuming half-pound plates of food, and swimming underwater after the surface of the water had been set afire.

When all was said and done, Deanna finished second to a dancer representing the Washington Wizards. “I wanted to win for my mom,” Deanna said. “But I didn’t really want to ‘lose my lunch’ on national television.”

Deanna Clover has been dancing since she was 4-years old and will join her Magic dance teammates for a December USO tour of Kosovo, Bosnia and Austria. She also works full-time as a character actor at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

What makes Deanna’s effort noteworthy is not the competition itself, but what she was trying to win for her mother. Donna Hinson has breast cancer. Her wish was to meet Lance Armstrong, the six-time Tour de France winner, and a cancer survivor himself.

When Deanna told me this it struck a chord because I have a two-year-old daughter who is also a cancer survivor (her picture is on the cover of this issue). I decided to do what I could do to help fulfill Donna’s wish.

I contacted the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and offered space for a full-page color PSA in FloridAgriculture if the meeting between Donna Hinson and Lance Armstrong could be facilitated. I received a cordial response from LAF’s Michelle Milford who suggested that I contact Armstrong’s management agency, Capital Sports and Entertainment. I’ve done so but want to turn it up a notch by asking FloridAgriculture readers to send correspondence to the management agency, requesting its assistance in bringing Lance Armstrong and Donna Hinson together (see sidebar contact information).

Florida Farm Bureau fancies itself a grassroots organization and I believe it to be true. Deanna competed in a bunch of crazy stunts to try to make her mom’s wish come true. All that you’re being asked to do is send a brief email or letter. We’ll keep you posted.
The original hook

Meanwhile, I need to report on Deanna’s successful effort to become an Orlando Magic dancer. When she tried out last July, it wasn’t the first time she tried to earn a spot on the dance team.

Proving that perseverance is a virtue, she was selected for one of the 16 spots on the 2004 dance team. Our visit at the donut shop was on the day before the Magic’s first regular season home game (the team won).

“We spend about 10 hours each week rehearsing and probably average about one or two home games per week,” said Deanna. “We are also required to participate in 30 hours of promotions during the season, as well as some additional promotions.”

Later that day Deanna was scheduled to travel to Brevard County for a promotion. The dance team has a 10-day December USO Tour that will visit Kosovo, Bosnia and Austria. And, did I mention, Deanna also has a 40-hour per week regular job at Walt Disney World.

Want to encourage Capital Sports and Entertainment to help bring about a meeting between Donna Hinson and Lance Armstrong? Here’s how to contact them: Capital Sports & Entertainment 98 San Jacinto Boulevard Suite 430 Austin, Texas 78701 (512) 478-7211 info@planetcse.com

We can’t tell you what character she plays because that might spoil the magic. But if you’re ever in Disney’s Magic Kingdom and run into the Mad Hatter, he might be able to point you in the right direction.

“I enjoy being able to make kids smile,” confessed Deanna. “Signing autographs and posing with them in photos is rewarding in itself.”

Deanna has been dancing since she was 4-years-old. Born and raised in Kissimmee, she now teaches dance classes at the James Dance Center in downtown Kissimmee. Deanna was employed as a dancer on cruise ships for three years and it was during that time that she met her husband of four years, Cliff.

During the past Arena Football season, Deanna was a dancer for the Orlando Predators and also tripped the light fantastic for the American Gladiator Theater.
Six of the Magic dancers, including Deanna, participated in the Orlando Opera’s rendition of “Salome,” doing three performances of a nine-minute dance in November.

While we were taking up space at Dunkin Donuts, a young man who recognized Deanna stopped by the table to congratulate Deanna on her performance on the ESPN2 program. He said his young daughter also enjoyed the competition.

Maybe it’s Deanna’s love for children that fuels her desire to perhaps one day have her own dance studio.
“My whole life has been doing five-million things at once,” said Deanna. “I love kids and I love animals and I see myself working with both.”

(Learn more about Deanna and the Orlando Magic dancers at http://www.nba.com/magic/.)

Magical
dancing

63rd Annual
Meeting

CONTACT WEBMASTER

Florida Farm Bureau Federation
P.O. Box 147030
Gainesville, FL 32614-7030
Phone: (352) 378-1321