Talent for the ages

Documentary to immortalize 22nd Hortonville Talent Show

By RICHARD A. ROSS

HORTONVILLE, NY — By showtime, there wasn’t an empty seat in the house as the 22nd annual Hortonville Talent Show took to the stage on March 29 following its first-ever postponement on March 8. Snow and sleet had forestalled the immensely popular community event but word of mouth quickly spread the news that the annual funfest, which serves as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, was merely postponed, not cancelled.

Year after year, the show has fulfilled the adapted adage from the movie “Field of Dreams:” If you hold it, they will come.”

Organized annually by Jane Orcutt, this year’s show delighted the audience with a panoply of diverse talent and performers of all ages. Orcutt welcomed the throng and introduced filmmakers Hannah Pollock and Myra Mniewski, who recently moved to the area and had heard about the remarkable event and wanted to document it. By evening’s end they had it all on videotape, including some interviews with performers and audience members.

The show began with the violin playing of six-year-old virtuoso Amealia Brooks, who delighted listeners with her playing of “Hunter’s Chorus,” and “Amazing Grace.”

She was followed by the tandem of Emily Pisall and her grandmother, Jean Ogden, performing a piano duet of “Chopsticks.”

Fulfilling his job as emcee for the 21st consecutive year, this writer kept the flow going with historical tidbits, engaging repartee and campy remarks. By night’s end, an invitation to host the 23rd annual show had already been extended and accepted. Better reserve your seats now.

Crowd favorite Walter Egner, extending his 22 years of perfect attendance in order, sang “The Wild Colonial Boy” with a perfect Irish brogue. Veteran Kathy Aleschus and her nephew Garrett Herman did a sidesplitting AARP version of “My Favorite Things,” replete with such appropriate props as a walker, Milk of Magnesia and teeth in a glass.

As the tape rolled on the documentary-to-be, filmmakers Pollock and Mniewski could hardly believe their eyes and ears as Joe Hoffsommer played his pen and tapped out his annual renditions of the theme from “The Lone Ranger,” “The Marine’s Hymn” and Jingle Bells.”

Racing to the stage in a blur, young Ian McBeath entranced the audience with his piano interlude of “The Enchanted City.” McBeath exited as rapidly as he had appeared and had to be recalled for a missed photo op.

Kathy Bernitt, who has been an integral part of the show for many years, charmed the audience with her singing of “Beautiful Heart.”

Surprising his wife Becky with a trip down memory lane, trumpeter Harris Myers—who took up the trumpet a few years ago after not playing for 42 years—played “Wonderland by Night,” a tune the couple used to listen to in the early days of their 25 years together.

Steve Fleckenstein on guitar and Antoine Magliano on dobro hearkened back to the ‘60s with Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” then changed pace to get the audience clapping to the country and western strains of “The Rose of St. Antone.” Melissa Fleckestein played her flute to accompany Steve on “My Heart Will Go On,” from “Titanic” and “Blowing in the Wind.”

Myers returned to the stage to play Beethoven’s “Für Elise” on piano, the first instrument he had ever studied.

Next the rousing voice of Shawn Bailey rang out with a little help from the audience on the chorus as he sang “These Thousand Hills,” accompanied by his son Shawn on guitar. The duo is known as Shawn Squared.

Wallenpaupack high school’s Deanna DiGiampolo treated the audience to a preview of her upcoming performance in the school’s production of “Damn Yankees,” as she sang “Those were the Good Old Days.”

A pair of heartfelt Civil War letters were read by Dennis Bernitt and Company and the show then concluded with the encore performance of last year’s favorites, The Entertainers. Agnes Tilson and Valerie McShane donned their white derbies and played their unusual duets on drums, spoons and bells as the audience smiled and tapped its feet.

This year’s awards, now known as “Horties,” were awarded by judges Andrea Henley-Heyn, Pastor Nancy Asbury and Leni Santoro of The Towne Crier. It was indeed a night to remember and the upcoming documentary is bound to make those memories even more enduring.

Click here for a photo album from this year’s talent show.