Being married for 36 years could have given Elayne and Charles Gamble a little edge as the couple danced away with the top prize at the third annual Vicksburg Dancing with the Stars.

The event, a fundraiser for the United Way of West Central Mississippi, was held at the Lady Luck Arena, Saturday night.

“Wow!” said Elayne Gamble. “We did it.”

Dressed in white and silver, the couple showed off fancy footwork with what Elayne Gamble called “old school moves with a few new moves” to “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross.

“We probably practiced 10 or 15 times,” she said.

Voting for the competitors was available for $1 before the competition, and the winner was chosen from combining the pre-competition votes with votes earned during the dance-off Saturday.

“Tonight was even better than I expected,” said Kristen Meehan, the director of marketing and community relations with the local United Way chapter.

Meehan said she estimated the crowd at more than 500 people. An total of the funds raise by the event were not available Saturday night, she said.

The proceeds from the dance competition will go to help fund a the Leaders Encouraging Advancements in Reading or LEARN! Program.

The project is designed to put books into the hands of every third-grader in the county during the 2014-15 school year, Meehan said,

Seven groups competed in last night’s competition and included the winners, Harley Caldwell and her father-in-law, Bill Caldwell Sr., Annette Kirklin and Kacy Presley, Delores Coomes and Vic Goodwin, Brandon Lott, Crystal’s Hip Hop Dance Group, and Brianne Connelly and Anneka Pakvasa.