Tusky Days Festival Talent Show winners announced
Belle Fockler won first place for her performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade."
Under a sunny sky, Belle Fockler, 17, of Dover took first place at the Tusky Days talent show with her vocal performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” She won the top prize of $75 for her efforts.
Fockler said she enjoys entering talent shows.
“Performing is my one true passion in life. I just want to do it as much as I can,” she said.
Her other passion is thrift shopping for jeans and shoes at secondhand stores, and she said she will probably spend her winnings there.
Second-place winner Isla Dotts of Stone Creek accompanied herself on the guitar while she sang a Dolly Parton song, “Cracker Jack.” The song is about one of Parton’s favorite dogs.
Dotts has only been playing her purple guitar for about six months.
“I got it for my birthday, and I always wanted to try it because my dad had one at home. I always loved playing it,” Dotts said.
Dotts has not taken any formal lessons to learn the instrument.
“My dad helps me a little bit with the chords sometimes, but I usually get it on my own. I listen to the person play, and then I’ve pretty much got it,” Dotts said.
Dotts has always been inspired by Dolly Parton and picked “Cracker Jack” to perform because it is a song she likes. She has performed other Parton hits too.
“I always did ‘Jolene,’ but I decided to do something new this time. I really wanted to do ‘Cracker Jack’ because I love dogs,” Dotts said.
Dotts previously performed for the public during open mic night at the Dennison Railroad Festival this year, and now she wants to enter as many talent shows as she can. Second prize was worth $50.
The third-place winner of $25 was Lily Johnson of New Philadelphia. Johnson switched her talent from dancing to singing this year because her dance partner was not available to compete. Because of the routine they performed, it wasn’t possible to do the dance number alone.
Johnson sang “Dead Mom” from “Beetlejuice the Musical,” which references the character Lydia’s loss of a sense of home when she loses her mother.
“I just really like that song because I think it touches a lot of people’s hearts,” Johnson said. She will be a freshman at Indian Valley High School in the fall, where she is a member of the color guard. She also has been dancing for seven years.
Judges for the show were Melanie Quillen of Back to my Rootz salon, Shana Reichman of Reichman Plumbing and Linda Carpenter of the Dover/New Phila Credit Union. All reside in Tuscarawas.
Other contestants were Ethan Collins, 13, of Newcomerstown, who sang “I Can Only Imagine” and accompanied himself on the keyboard. Collins, a crowd favorite, has entered the competition multiple times and always shows improvement each year.
Collins sings the national anthem at Special Olympics basketball games and is in the process of getting a service dog.
Two sisters from Canton showed their vocal skills at the event, each separately belting out their songs to an appreciative audience. Kenzie Maley, 10, sang “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys while Lacie Maley, 7, performed a Bruno Mars song, “Talking to the Moon.”
Talent show host Marc Davis of New Philadelphia was thrilled with the talent of all of the 2022 participants and the fact that some had just started performing less than a year ago.
“I’m very impressed with how far they’ve come, and we’re looking forward to next year being an even bigger and better show as these kids get better and keep practicing their skills. They were all just so good, and the ones I’ve seen over the years have improved a lot,” Davis said.
All contestants received door prizes for participating.
The Tusky Days commemorative paddle auction was a success this year. The sale of 12 paddles resulted in a total of $5,600 raised to benefit the festival.
The first paddle went for $1,300 to Jim Reichman of Reichman Plumbing. Other paddles sold were $700 to Devin Brown of Brotherhood HVAC, $700 to DJ Meek for Kinsey Farms, $500 to Matt Smith of Tuscarawas, $300 to Tuscarawas Mayor Dana Moore in honor of his great-grandfather whose business was on this year’s paddle, $350 to Dale Douglas, Jr. of Olde Town Tavern, $350 to Bob Smith of Smith Ambulance, $200 to Steve Carlisle of Brightwood, $300 to Steve Pasquinelli of Pasquinelli Tax Service of Wainwright, $350 to Brennon O’Connor and Nick Love of Tuscarawas, $200 to Chad Kerns of Florida, and $350 to Tom and Sherry Wallace of the Tusky Deli.
There was more good news for the Tusky Days Festival when the car show on Saturday, organized by Darrin Costello of Tuscarawas, attracted a record 105 motorcycles, cars and trucks.
The AC/DC tribute band, Dirty Deeds from Cleveland, attracted a large crowd of fans of all ages to Tuscarawas to cap off the three-day-long festival.