The second annual Menchville’s Got Talent competition was held on Wednesday night, March 29^th, showcasing fifteen talented student acts while raising money for a good cause. The talent show drew a large crowd to the Menchville Auditorium, and ticket sales generated hundreds of dollars for Peninsula Canstructure.

Senior Christian Montgomery won first place at the talent competition. His performance was an originally choreographed dance to “Home Again” by Alexx Calise. Montgomery had asked before he went onstage that the audience “view his performance with an open mind,” and the crowd certainly did. When the music ended and he exited stage, he was honored with wild applause and cheers. For his dancing skills, Montgomery won the top prize of a $30.

Montgomery was chosen for the top spot out of three different finalists. Freshman Evan Gray was also a finalist and placed runner up in the talent show. Gray sang and played guitar, performing “Let It Go” by James Bay. Also a finalist was the band Sound Affects, who placed third. Sound Affects debuted at Menchville Rocks this year. The band performed “Beat It” by Michael Jackson for their main act, and later played “All Along the Watchtower” with Guitar Teacher Pete Mercier during intermission.

Menchville’s Got Talent 2017 was a huge success for the Freshman class fundraiser. According to English Teacher and project organizer Allison Nuckols, the talent show raised around $780, which is even more than the fundraiser total from last year. This money will go towards buying cans for the Peninsula Canstructure competition. The food used in the competition will then be donated to the Peninsula Food Bank to feed people in the area. As Nuckols said during the show, “Every ticket you purchased goes to helping the community in some way.”

To see how the Menchville’s Got Talent fundraiser is helping to benefit the community, students can visit Patrick Henry Mall on April 22^nd, the day of the Hampton Roads Youth Volunteer Corps-sponsored Peninsula Canstructure event. Teams from 17 different local schools will compete and build designs from over 20,000 pounds worth of canned food donations, a portion of which was purchased using funds from the Menchville talent show.