Friday night’s rain may have chilled attendance at the Salmon Arm Fall Fair slightly, but it could not dampen enthusiasm at the main stage.
Shuswap Idol producer Lori Risling says 25 contestants lined up to perform.
“It was probably the best year yet,” raved Risling Monday after she had her ninth idol under her belt. “It went so smoothly, our audiences were phenomenal even with cool weather.”
Some 150 people showed up Friday night with more than that on Saturday and more than 200 for Sunday’s finale.
“As always, the audience was warm and welcoming and many comments from the performers about how much they loved performing for a live audience, a great audience, a big responsive audience,” she says.
In the 18-and-under category, 11-year-old Ruby Bruce was in first place; Rhys Middleton was second and Karrah Cochrane took third.
Brandon Robbins took first place in the 19 and over category with Laurie Poulin in second and Robyn Chagun in third place.
In the singer-songwriter class, Kassandra Harder took top spot, while Josh St. John took second.
The judges gave Josiah Taschuk third place in this division, but the crowds honoured him with the People’s Choice Award.
He does pretty phenomenal guitar work, people were just mesmerized,” Risling said, noting Taschuk sat on a picnic table on the dance floor in front of the stage and did harmonics and percussion.
“It was interesting and unique for our competition and the audience just loved it.”
Risling gets $1,750 from the fair’s entertainment budget and over the past several years, her employer, dentist Ian Shields, has fronted the $500 singer-songwriter award – something Risling mentioned on stage, inviting someone else to pick up the cost of the prize.
Cusson Tree Service owner Yves Cusson stepped up to the sponsorship plate right after the competition,
“All in all it was a huge success,” said Risling, looking forward to next year’s competition and inviting anyone who would like to get on the funding bandwagon to call her at 250-832-1960.
Honourable mentions were given to Brittany Lawrence and Carly Pullin.
Photography
Success was the operative word over in the photography division as well, where a record number of photos were on display.
Judges selected the winners from a total of 525 photos prior to their display at the fair. During the three-day event fairgoers chose their favourite for the People’s Choice Award.
Lorie Moore won the People’s Choice Award for her photo, Guss, which also won a first-place ribbon from the judges.
In second place in the People’s Choice Award was Donna Davies with Bums and Roses, and third place went to Bob Boxall for Pinto in the Morning Mist.
Tied for fourth was Fred Sonmor for Prairie Barn and Tamara Krull for Two Cats in the Yard.
Special prize winners for the Photography Division, age 14 and under, were Jeremy Luth for The Top of Margaret Falls, who won $25 from local photographer Clive Bryson, and Maggie Beckner for Boulder Among the Boulder, who received $25 from the Shuswap Photo Arts Club.
A special prize winner for the Open Shuswap class was Martin Kyllo for his photo, Enjoying the Shuswap. Kyllo gets to choose a $45 item from the Salmon Arm Chamber of Commerce.
Best of Show winner for New Competitors was Jacquelyne Nakazawa for Hardy Winter Robin and Best of Show winner for Intermediate Competitors was Pat Hutchins for House on Fire.
Both receive a $25 gift card for photo printing, courtesy of Pharmasave Photo Lab.
The Experienced Competitors winner was Ian Clay for Napali Coast Sunset. He picked up $25 thanks to the Shuswap District Arts Council.
The winner of Best of Show for Black and White photos was Pat Hutchins for Whale of a Tail. The Salmon Arm Observer sponsored that $25 prize.