Talented Putnam County youth bound for state fair

Monday, July 13, 2009
Tony Patrick performs David Archuletta's "A Little Too Not Over You" at Sunday's talent contest. Patrick's performance was impressive enough to win the overall senior title.

Due largely to the efforts of contest organizer Lita Sandy, the Putnam County Fair Talent Contest looks to be on its way back. Having had just two entries in 2008, the number was up to nine on Sunday at the Putnam County Fairgrounds.

With a theme of "So You Think You Got Talent," 16 local youths, some as individuals and some as groups, proved they indeed have talent.

After Sunday's Putnam County Fair Talent contest, 15 Putnam County Youths are bound for the Indiana State Fair Talent Competition to compete in seven different divisions. Those competing in the state fair are (front, from left) Tony Patrick, Vanessa Weddell, Madi Egold, Ariel Higgins, Logan Grim, Justin Hall, (back) Anthony Cosner, Krista Gordon, Angel Nield, Courtney Sullivan, Michaela Scales, Maddison Plunkett, Olivia Arnold, Andi Foltz and Micah Grim.

Having reviewed the performances, the judges picked the dance team of Maddison Plunkett, Angel Nield, Andi Foltz, Michaela Scales, Courtney Sullivan and Olivia Arnold as the overall youth champion. Guitarist Anthony Cosner was youth reserve champion for his performance of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird."

In the senior competition, Tony Patrick was a double threat. He bested the other competitors by playing guitar and singing on David Archuletta's "A Little Too Not Over You." Reserve champion in the seniors was Krista Gordon, who sang Taylor Swift's "White Horse."

The overall champions and reserve champions earned a spot in the Indiana State Fair Talent Contest next month. They will also be joined by three other acts who won their individual divisions Sunday evening.

The youth instrumental group of Justin Hall (guitar), Logan Grim (vocals) and Micah Grim (keyboards) won its division by performing its own composition "Déjá Vu." Youth vocalist Vanessa Weddell advanced by singing Taylor Swift's "Love Story."

The senior dance group of Ariel Higgins and Madi Egold won their division with a routine they choreographed with the help of their older sisters.

North Putnam Senior Krista Gordon performs Taylor Swift's "White Horse" on Sunday.

The Indiana State Fair Talent Contest will be Aug. 7 and 8 in the Farm Bureau Building at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

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  • Wow I didn't even know the contest was going on, was it advertised in the banner online addtion?

    -- Posted by senior'08 on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 6:16 AM
  • madmomma5 - congrats on being the one this time around to make the stupid comment of the week! What difference does it make if the contestants came from a studio. They are being judged just like any other contestant. Either you have talent or you don't. Applause to Lita for breathing life back into our 4-H Fair.

    -- Posted by BGreader on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 7:30 AM
  • Good Luck at the State Fair Vanessa, keep up the beautiful singing, you did awesome last night. I'm sooooo proud of you.

    We love you sweetie.

    -- Posted by mimi7 on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 8:10 AM
  • No, the overall winners are not students of Lita. If you read their shirts you'd see they are from Flipside. Flipside is a wonderful tumbling and gymnastics studio located in Greencastle. Awesome job Flipside girls, you rock!

    -- Posted by belleunion on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 9:14 AM
  • Thank you BGreader for awarding madmomma with the stupid comment of the week. I second that! madmomma5 AND JustMyThoughts sure have their panties in a bunch. I can't believe anyone could find something negative to say about this article in the BG. It's such a nice thing to have an event like this back on track. Thanks Lita for putting your time and energy into this event. Just ignore the ignorant and negative comments from those mad and sad people.

    -- Posted by just a local on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 11:13 AM
  • Congrats Tony! You are awesome! Good Luck at the State Fair, I know you will win that crowd over same as you do at Relay every year!

    -- Posted by me me on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 12:08 PM
  • Actually, madmomma, the overall winners were from my studio, On the Flipside, in Greencastle. We were the only dance studio represented at the competition. The senior dance group, as stated in the article, choreographed and performed their routine without professional help - what a great job they did!

    I had never met Lita before the talent show, and I think she did a great job. The talent show was well run, organized, and a lot of fun for all of the kids involved. Lita was awesome about answering questions and was easy to get ahold of. From what I understand, they accepted an entry the day of the competition, in order to allow anyone that was interested an opportunity to participate this year. Lita and the fair have worked hard to get this competition to what it was years ago, and their efforts should be applauded. Last year the talent show was cancelled because there were only two entries.

    Kudos to Lita, the Putnam County Fair, and all of the kids involved on a job well done!

    -- Posted by ontheflipside on Mon, Jul 13, 2009, at 2:55 PM
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