Dotts’ sisters win Midvale Miner’s Jubilee talent show

The sister duo of Aria and Isla Dotts of Stone Creek took top honors at the first-ever Midvale Miner’s Jubilee talent show, sponsored by the Dover-Phila Credit Union. They performed “Traveling Soldier” by The Chicks, accompanying themselves on violin and guitar.

The young ladies have been playing instruments for 10 years and have been participating in talent shows around the area for the past few years.

The biggest surprise of the talent show was 7-year-old Silas Ecenbarger of Dennison taking second place over his mother, Renita Ecenbarger, who came in third. Renita Ecenbarger has been working with her son throughout the summer to develop his vocal talent.

The judges were impressed Silas Ecenbarger could sing so well at such a young age. He had memorized all the words to “My Boy” by Elvie Shane and performed flawlessly. Prior to the event, Silas Ecenbarger practiced in the car on his way to Midvale.

Renita Ecenbarger sang “I Told You So” by Carrie Underwood.

Judges for the competition were Kristi Prucha, choir director at New Philadelphia High School; April Linard, band director and instrumental music instructor at Claymont City Schools; and Shannon Mitchell, a teacher of dance, theater, piano and voice and the owner of Studio S Stage and Performing Arts.

The competition was hosted by Marc Davis of New Philadelphia.

“I was blown away by the level of talent today,” Davis said. “Every performer was so good, and I applaud all of them for their hard work to be this amazing. Thanks again to the Dover Phila Credit Union and the festival committee for their support and sponsorship of this event.”

One of the main purposes of the festival is the preservation of Midvale’s history. A pop-up museum of items from the Mine-ding Midvale’s History group filled the community building for the festival. Some of their most popular displays are the history of the school in Midvale, a collection of yearbooks and historical items from the once-thriving mining industry.

One of the items auctioned during the festival was a replica of a miner’s safety lantern.

“This was a device that was developed to try to overcome some serious problems in the deep mining industry,” said Rod Wilson, a member of the Midvale Miners Jubilee committee.

Gases deep beneath the Earth’s surface include methane and carbon dioxide, which can cause asphyxiation.

“The tip of the flame would change color if there was methane in the mine,” Wilson said. “The tip of the flame would actually turn blue, and the more the flame got blue, that indicated how much methane was in the mine.”

Breathing in methane could not only be deadly for the miners, but also its presence indicated a higher probability of an explosion.

The miner’s lantern would go out if carbon dioxide was present.

“The miners knew immediately if the flame went out, it was time to get out of the mine,” Wilson said. “This was a very important piece of equipment.”

The miner’s safety lantern was invented in the early 1800s and made the industry much safer than it had been. Unfortunately, at the time miners were paid by how much coal they actually mined.

“A lot of them felt that this device posed some type of a restriction on how much they can mine, so they didn’t use it. They were willing to gamble without this device in the mine; sometimes they lost the gamble,” Wilson said.

Family members including daughter-in-law Brenda Stafford also paid tribute to the late Doyle E. Stafford, a former coal miner. The family still has the hard hat he wore while working as a miner.

Three commemorative wooden plates for the 135th anniversary of the village were auctioned to help support the festival. The No. 1 plate went to Randy Cadle for $250, the second plate went to Adrian Day for $200 and the third plate went to Wilson for $175.

The annual pie and baked goods auction saw a number of pies, cakes and cookies sold to benefit the festival. The top-selling baked good was an apple walnut pie that went for $80.

Auctioneer Bob Hall of Cronebaugh Auctions conducted the sale. Ken Tinlin of Carrollton purchased a fire truck for $5,000. The proceeds benefited the village of Midvale, which no longer has a fire department.

Tinlin said this is the second fire truck he has purchased, and he plans to convert it into a camper for his family to use when they travel.

Other festival sponsors were Aqua Ohio, Midvale Methodist Church, Tusky VFW, Truck Sales Leasing Ltd., Advantech, Twin City Kids, C & K Auto, Kimble, Thrasher Engineering, Wood Electric, Midvale Lions, Smith Ambulance, Duck Water Boats, T&G Sealcoating and Striping, Midvale Auto Body & Detail, TDT Septic & Excavating, D.K.’s Bar & Grill, Renner & Daughter, Tusky Deli, Kevmar, Addy Polaris, Superior Mobile Homes, Lee’s Famous Recipe, Weaver’s Barns, Cronebaugh Auctions, KDRP, and Signs & Graphics by Coney.