PORT ANGELES — Old-time talent ruled the Clallam County Fair inaugural Talent Show on Sunday as yodeling cowgirl Wanda Bumgarner, 68, of Port Angeles, was selected as the best talent of 2011.
Bumgarner said has been yodeling since she was a teenager and learned the art from her mother.
In fact, the song she performed for the talent show was one of her mother’s, Bumgarner said.
“What I like about this song is that it’s older than me,” she said.
At nearly twice the age of any other contestant, Bumgarner gave her vocal cords a workout and showed what more than 50 years of practice can do.
“It’s the first time I’ve won anything,” she said.
The win is even more impressive given that Bumgarner had throat surgery two months ago.
“I wanted to see if the doctor did a good job,” she said.
Bumgarner received a blue ribbon, a certificate and a $200 prize.
The judges had a difficult job of choosing between the acts, many of whom could have been among the winners.
“We saw a lot of future talent out here,” said John Nelson, who judged the acts along with Richard Stephens and 2010 Fair Queen Marissa Wilson.
Nelson encouraged those who didn’t win to continue practicing and return for future contests.
Second place to juggler
Juggler-variety act “Daniel’s Bag of Tricks” a one man-act by Daniel Fink, 16, of Sequim, was awarded second place.
Fink juggled balls and “flower sticks,” performed yo-yo tricks, then solved two Rubik’s cubes in about 30 seconds.
While he didn’t perform perfectly, causing gasps from the crowd as he made two errors, his variety of talents impressed the crowd, and judges agreed.
“There is no way I was expecting this.” Fink said.
Fink’s skills started with a friendly yo-yo contest against friends at age 9, which turned into a competition of one-upsmanship that eventually including juggling.
He also played guitar with the rock band trio Red White and New during its talent show performance.
Third-place duo
John Doster and Russ Gustin, 16-year-old Port Angeles High School sophomores, received $50 for third place for their performance on guitar, keyboard and vocals.
“It’s exciting,” Doster said. “I didn’t really expect to place.”
Doster and Gustin, with grins plastered on their faces, were bouncing off the benches after their third-place win, eliciting smiles from those who filed by.
“We owned face!” Doster said.
First-year success
Overall, the first year of the talent show went well, said Joel Winborn, director of the Clallam County Fair.
“It went wonderfully, a huge success,” Winborn said. “It was the best Sunday crowd we’ve ever had.”
The venue was more than half full most of the time, with audience members coming and going, making actual talent show attendance difficult to estimate.
With the temperature peaking at 72 degrees at showtime, the sun-baked concrete chased away some members of the audience. But they were quickly replaced by others, who were attracted by the music.
The few shaded tables and grassy areas were crowded, and the metal stands nearly deserted. The fair is working toward getting a cover for the audience at the Wilder Stage,Winborn said.
Competitor was dropped
Transitions between the acts were much faster and smoother than expected, and the show, which was scheduled to last until 5 p.m., was done by 3:30 p.m.
The early finish meant that the final act, a hip-hop trio who expected to perform at 4:40 p.m., were not present when they were called at 3:30 p.m.
Competitors were asked to be present early, at least a half-hour before their loosely scheduled performance times, and were warned that the show could move much faster or slower than anticipated.
“We didn’t really have a benchmark,” Winborn said.
In future years, the fair may be able to include more acts, with a more accurate schedule.
“We’ve learned a lot of things,” he said. “There were things about this process we didn’t know before.”
Good fair
“The weather [for the fair] was outstanding,” Winborn said.
Thursday and Friday were sunny with temperatures in the high 60s, while Saturday’s 84-degree high appealed to warm-weather enthusiasts.
As of Sunday, gate counts were not available, but Winborn said he believed fair revenues were up for Thursday and Friday.
“Overall, it’s been a wonderful fair,” Winborn said. “I see people walking around with smiles on their face.”.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
