Talent abounds at First Town Days

It was the first time anyone could remember a drum performance at the First Town Days talent show, the first time Lucy Posey, 11, of New Philadelphia had entered a talent show and the first time she won first place. She performed in the age 0-13 group.

The talent show was sponsored by Dover Hydraulics.

Posey played the drums to the song, “Heaven Is a Place on Earth,” on a drum set that featured her name on the front. She has been playing for three years.

“My uncle, we were at this restaurant in Canton, and he just started drumming on the table and asking me to play back the beat,” Posey said of her introduction to drumming. “I started doing it on my table, and then he and my other uncle got me a drum set.”

Posey will enter the sixth grade this fall, where she has already signed up for percussion.

“I really want to play in a band,” Posey said.

Her other interests include doing hip hop and jazz dancing. Posey studies dance at Moxie Dance Academy.

Taking second place in the age 0-13 group was Lydia Gustkey, 10, who sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” a cappella. She impressed the judges and Marc Davis, the host of the talent show.

“She did it a cappella, with no background music. That is super challenging and hard,” Davis said.

Taking third place was the sister duo of Cheyenne and Betty Millard. Cheyenne sang “How Far I’ll Go” from "Moana" while Betty performed a dance at the same time.

Belle Fockler, 17, of Dover took first place in the 14 and up group with her vocal performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

Fockler has been an area talent show favorite for years and has won many competitions. She recently returned from at week-long theater camp at Baldwin Wallace University, and she hopes to study at the school once she graduates from high school.

“My top choice is Baldwin Wallace. It's like the number-one school in America for theater. It's right by Playhouse Square, so their students do a lot of stuff at Playhouse Square,” Fockler said. “They have a showcase in New York City every year, and their students have 100% acceptance. Their seniors all get agents at the showcase in New York.”

Chloe Martin of Tuscarawas took second place with her vocal performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Martin is a student at West Virginia University, where she is studying music producing.

“I've always loved the behind-the-scenes details. And I always thought it would be cool to run my own producing studio, maybe produce my own music and just become like an indie artist,” Martin said, adding she also would like to produce music for other people too.

Winning third place was Sami Krocker of Goshen for her vocal performance of “In My Own Little Corner” from "Cinderella." The song has been one of her favorites since an aunt encouraged her to watch the "Cinderella" musicals when she was younger.

Krocker is a senior at Malone University, where she studies integrated social studies.

“I will be licensed to teach grades 7-12 social studies but mainly history,” Krocker said.

She has already started a collection of books on history and will do her student teaching at Newcomerstown in the fall.

Judges for the competition included Cheryl Graham, who Davis called “the music queen of New Philadelphia.” She has taught music for 52 years — 47 of them for New Philadelphia. Graham also is a member of the First Town Days committee for scholarships and an Ohio Music Association judge for marching band competitions.

Another judge, Lacey Herbert-Stephon, the owner of Lacey Performing Arts Center in New Philadelphia, also is CEO of Lacey PAC Adaptive Movement Center, a nonprofit extracurricular facility for adults and children with disabilities.

Davis was appreciative to Jaime Cole-Mansfield, who agreed to step in as a judge just hours before the event started when one judge was forced to cancel.

“She has been a big part of music. She took it to the professional level and has toured many years as a front vocalist for lounge bands, dance bands and show bands. She's even sang backup for country western superstar Ronnie McDowell,” Davis said in his introduction of Cole-Mansfield, who recently moved back to the area. “She's also written recorded contemporary Christian original songs, as well as provided studio work for other professionals.”

The participants were judged on attire, audience appeal, attitude and talent.

The competition in both age groups at the talent show was strong. Davis apologized to the judges for giving them the hardest job in the park.

Other contestants and their talent in the age 0-13 group were Bella Beitzel and Aria Sanner, both 11, who performed an acrobatic lyrical routine to “Loyal, Brave and True” from "Mulan;" a team of six performers — Lilly Bassett, Lily and Penelope Endlich, Aubriana Taylor, Ashtyn Patterson, and Alexandra Taylor — who did an acrobatic jazz routine to “Cruella de Vil;” Paige Martine, who sang “A Friend like Me” from "Aladdin;" and Isla Dotts, who accompanied herself on the guitar to the Dolly Parton song, “9 to 5.” Dotts even encouraged the audience to sing along on one chorus.

Other contestants in the 14 and up group were Alisha Ford, 17, who played the guitar and sang “Panic Room,” and Emilie Hutton, 15, who also played guitar and sang “Riptide” by Vance Joy.

Davis encouraged all participants to continue performing, whether they won an award at the show or not. He said he had won the First Town Days talent show in 2012 but that the second- and third-place winners went on to do greater things musically.

“Trophies are great, but they are not going to last forever, and this moment in time is not going to last forever. Win, lose or draw, you guys are all awesome. I want you to know that the most winning thing you can do is to keep persevering. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep enjoying what you're doing,” Davis said. “I know that all of you who came didn't just decide last night to jump in. You have all been performing, working hard for many months, many hours, and I think you all deserve that recognition.”