Talent show planned
Dancers, singers, a comedian and even an illusionist duo are lining up to volunteer their talents and raise funds for Canonsburg’s first youth center.
Ticket sales for “Canonsburg’s Got Talent,” which will be held 7 p.m. Saturday at Canonsburg Middle School auditorium, will help offset renovation costs to transform the former National Guard armory in Canonsburg into a Youth for Christ center. Tickets will be available at the door for $10.
The talent show will feature eight acts selected by event organizers, as well as the “extreme illusions and escapes” headlining act by Josh Knotts and Lea Teyssier. Pittsburgh Riverhounds will give a soccer demonstration, and radio personality Rose Tennent will be the master of ceremonies.
The talent show winner will in part be selected by a panel of judges, including Washington County Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan, former Commissioner Bracken Burns and the owners of Arthur Murray Dance Studio, David and Ashley Geidel.
And with 60 percent of the vote, the audience gets an even larger say in choosing the winning act. Attendees receive one vote for every $10 donation.
After a winner is announced, attendees can head over to the Armory Youth Center for a tour of the two-story building. There also will be a silent auction and Chinese auction.
Sarah Coligan, coordinator of the event and an alumna of Canon-McMillan High School, said she hopes all 900 seats in the auditorium will be filled.
“We’ve gone at this full force,” Coligan said of organizing the talent show. “We’re hoping for a pretty good turnout and a pretty awesome night.”
Coordinators of the Armory Youth Center still need to raise roughly $380,000 to complete renovations. A local business recently donated $100,000.
Once renovations are complete, the center will have a gymnasium, fitness center, recreation room and additional space for educational programs.
Buzz Gardner, capital campaign chairman of the center, said, “We’re trying to touch the community in a way we think is very needed.”