I would like to thank Wendy and Ken of the Sweet Tooth Café in Summerland for organizing the Summerland’s Got Talent Contest this spring.
Our band, Silent Alarm auditioned in April and then had a call back to play at the Earth Day Celebration where we learned we would progress to the final talent night in June. The whole process of the talent show was a really good learning experience and I appreciated how honest the judges were in the initial auditions. It was good to get advice from people other than our parents. The judges gave us feedback to help us grow as both musicians and performers. I would also like to thank the Okanagan Wolfman, Kerry Martinson, for his guidance in helping promote our band in order for us to get experience performing.
The night of the talent show was phenomenal. My sister was there with the Summerland School of Dance, and my friends from school and in Jo Jo and the Soul, as well as many other talented Summerlander’s, shared the stage. We all got along well back stage and supported each other as the competition increased. All the groups performed first and then nine were called back. Then five made it to the finals. The momentum and the level of talent kept getting better. I feel the businesses that sponsored the prizes for the top three contestants, deserve to be publicly acknowledged. First prize was $1,000 donated by Summerland Gold and Silver Exchange and the Sweet Tooth Café. Second prize of $500 was donated by Summerland Dollar Store, Sass Clothing Boutique, Suburban Princess, The Bead Trail, VP Grill, Prima Pizza, Summergate Winery, Zias Stonehouse Restaurant, Summerland Optical Clinic, and Murrays Pizza. Third Prize of $250 was donated by Summerland Credit Union. There were also special prizes donated by Summerland Waterfront Resort and Beauty and the Brit. Their support is greatly appreciated.
I would especially like to thank the judges who volunteered their time for the auditions and for the final show. I sure hope that this talent show continues as an annual event. I think the people of Summerland need to know how much value there is in community events like this. Thanks again to Wendy and Ken from Sweet Tooth for all their work to make this event possible. Anyone who was at the final show at Centre Stage on June 8 got to see first-hand that Summerland sure has talent.
Daniel Raitt
Summerland