Annie Boyd once was paid $50 to play the violin at a wedding.
On Sunday, she tripled her earnings by showing off her skills in the inaugural Smalltown Star teen talent show at the Freeman Field Recreational Area in Seymour.
The event was added to the schedule of activities for the Seymour Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Fourth of July celebration, thanks to the efforts of this year’s Leadership Jackson County art project team of Chad Dixon, Jennifer Rorick, Stephanie Sluder, Brett Turner and Keisha Wright.
Boyd, 16, an incoming junior at Sandy Creek Christian Academy in Seymour, was pleasantly surprised when emcee Matt Nicholson, the mayor of Seymour, announced her as the winner Sunday afternoon.
"I was really shocked. I was like, ‘Me?’" Boyd said, smiling. "I’ve always dreamed of it. I’ve won several other trophies for something else, but talent show? This is shocking. It’s just such a big opportunity for me. It’s huge."
Boyd was grateful for her mother encouraging her to give the violin a try 10 years ago.
"I’ve always been fascinated by the violin. I’ve always listened to songs. I love orchestral or instrumental anything," she said. "Then we went to this music store one day and saw all of these violins hanging and my mom’s like, ‘You should play the violin,’ and I’m like, ‘No.’ She got me one eventually, and I’m like, ‘All right. It’s fine.’"
Boyd said she played the violin during the Seymour Oktoberfest talent show one year, but no matter how many times she plays for an audience, she still gets nervous.
That was even the case Sunday when she played a familiar song, "Polish Dance."
"I literally just played it for a recital I just had," Boyd said.
Holding the winning trophy and $150 prize at the end, however, eased her mind.
"Actually, this wasn’t even my idea," Boyd said of entering Smalltown Star. "My granny just found this in the newspaper and she’s like, ‘You could win this easily,’ and I was like, ‘OK. I’ll give it a go.’ Then my mom sent in the (audition) video, and I’m like, ‘Here I am.’"
Earning second place and $100 was Evan Rohlfing, 18, of Brownstown. He sang Nat King Cole’s version of the song "L-O-V-E."
"That was the second song I ever did in terms of a big solo thing that I’ve done that showed off my voice, and I’ve been singing it at least once every year following," he said. "It has just been growing and expanding since I’ve started singing it. It’s just very nice to be able to go back to something I sang all the way back then and just think how different I’ve been able to make it."
Rohlfing comes from a musical family, beginning theater in elementary school and singing in middle school.
He, too, was nervous Sunday even though he was singing a familiar tune. Clinging onto the trophy and prize at the end, though, made him all smiles.
"Just being able to have something like this, it’s not something that many communities have, especially small towns," he said of the teen talent show. "I’m very, very thankful that they have something like this to be able to give people the ability to show what they can do."
Even though there were just five acts in Sunday’s show, it featured good variety.
Levi Croquart of Seymour opened the show by singing a song he wrote and playing the guitar. After Rohlfing sang, Cohen Tedrow of Seymour showed off his yo-yo skills. Following Boyd was the final act, Gage Mull of Vallonia, playing the guitar and singing.
Only two points separated first and second place in the scoring by judges Karen Haas, Dan Robison and Rexanne Ude.
"Wasn’t that awesome? That’s incredible," Turner said onstage at the end of Sunday’s show. "I’m beside myself at the talent we have here."
Turner thanked the parks department and Boys and Girls Club of Seymour for sponsoring Smalltown Star. The project team connected with Parks Director Stacy Findley and Boys and Girls Club Executive Director Ryon Wheeler as they put their project together.
"Ryon had done some talent shows in other places and encouraged us to do this, gave us some great ideas, gave us a set of guidelines to go by," Turner said.
Another element of the event was collecting cash, cleaning supplies and hygiene products to be given to Anchor House Family Assistance Center and Pantry in Seymour, which was among the places the Leadership Jackson County class visited.
"It is a place where they are truly trying to get people back on their feet who have had hard luck for whatever reason," Turner said. "We all were impressed with that."
The goal of the Leadership Jackson County project teams is to come up with a project that will carry on after the class. That’s the plan for Smalltown Star.
"We’re going to do this over and over and over again," Turner said. "Hopefully, at least part of us or all of us will continue to be involved in this. It’s just going to get better as time goes on."