2011 Cast
Mark Wilson & Laura Dyken
 Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson moved his family to Calaveras County nearly 30 years ago to operate Signal Service, a family business his father, Wilbert Sr., started when he retired to Murphys.
He and his wife, Terri (who he happens to be competing against in this year's Dancing with the Sierra Stars... more on that later) live in the Murphys home his parents built in 1975. Mark is especially pleased to participate in Dancing With the Stars because Mark Twain Hospital was one of Wilbert Sr's very first subscribers, so this year's Fundraiser is the latest chapter in a nearly 40 year relationship.
Mark is proud to serve as Board Chairman for Mind Matters, a non-profit treatment center located in Murphys that helps individuals and their families with Autism Spectrum Disorders. He is also Board President and a founder of Murphys Creek Theatre Company; MCT's children's acting conservatory, the Mirror Project, is an ongoing inspiration for him.
So why go "toe to toe" against his wife, Terri, in a dance contest? "Don't get me wrong... I'm very proud of Terri's accomplishments, but a dollar for every time I was introduced as ‘Terri Wilson's husband, Mark' would make a sizable endowment to the MTSJH Foundation! For starters there's her smash hit 'Lend Me a Tenor' earlier this year, then there's her work with the Calaveras Follies, and let's not forget her ever popular 'Fifi-the-French-maid' gig at The City Hotel... I mean, how do you compete with that?! This contest is my opportunity to escape from her shadow!"
Laura Dyken
Laura Dyken wasn’t supposed to live here. She was supposed to live in Santa Cruz. At least that was the plan when she arrived in San Andreas on a scorching summer afternoon in 1985 with her husband Mark, their two children, and the rest of the family that made up the newly formed band, Clan Dyken. “We stopped in for a visit and have stayed 26 years!”
Laura no longer accompanies the band on stage but she remains active in the performing arts. She has acted in many plays throughout the area, but has chosen to focus on costume design. Her most recent credits include Murphys Creek Theatre’s production of Lend Me a Tenor, and Romeo and Juliet. She can’t wait to start working on the costumes for this event!
She has teamed up with Mark Wilson in the past for Calaveras Follies, taking home the Frog Oscar twice. Competing against Terri is a first, but Laura believes she knows her good friend well enough to say; “Game on, Wilson!” |
