"You Mean There's Still a Contest?"

Glad to be back!

Now that it's official that the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival will take place in a new location (Oxford, MS) and will continue to happen on Memorial Day weekend, it sounded like a great, great time to pick the contest's history back up. 

Where we left off, it was 1994...and Mimi Blais came to the Holiday Inn Conference Hotel in Decatur, IL (the OTPP site since 1987) and tore the place up as she snared the Regular Division's Traveling Trophy and took it back home to Montreal, QC.

And it was a year where only five Regular Division contestants and just five Junior Division ones went after prize money. 

When Mimi won it all in the RDs, that did it.

Put the brakes on the shrinking of the contestant field, that is.

When we met at Decatur's Holiday Inn in 1995, six Junior Division hopefuls and eighteen Reg Division contestants took to the stage...including four RDs who decided not to go after the Big Dough the year before (after competing in 1993) and six newcomers to the division.

In addition, three of the JDs had never competed in OTPP before. In that group, there were John Schultz and two names we'd hear from for a long time to come: Noah Harmon (a son of Linda and John) and Dan Mouyard.

Newcomers to the Regular Division were Teresa Arth, Clarence Maley, Mitchell Johnson, Rod Ludwig, Howie Wyeth (a descendant of Andrew), and John Yates. (John Y., from Bowmanville, ON, teamed up with Mimi to give the contest two Canadians that year.) What's more, Brian Holland, Marty Mincer, Faye Ballard, and "Perfessor" Bill Edwards got back into the mix after a two-year absence, Todd Robbins took up the call after staying away for seven years...and John H. ended an eight-year siesta from competition, while Linda moved out from behind the judges' table to climb back on stage, end a six-year hiatus from competing, and take on the contest piano, that 1883 Weber upright nicknamed "Moby Dink."

And the biggest news of all was...Julie McClarey, six years after winning it all in the RDs, jumped back in. 

It was all because of the giant competitive shadow Mimi cast. 

For the first two rounds of Reg competition, it looked as if Mimi was going to keep that trophy, in spite of Julie and Linda (and those two inseparables, Marty M. and "Perfessor" Bill) tagging after her.

Still, Julie's sets got stronger with each round...until her textbook technique (standing out in "Grandpa's Spell" and "Alabamy Bound") enabled the Mom from Decatur to snatch the Traveling Trophy away from the classically-trained Montrealer.

By three points. 

Meanwhile, Marty Sammon (that's right, blues fans; that Marty Sammon) showed that he wasn't going to let go of the Junior Division crown...which, this time around, he won by eight points over Max Schiltz.  

Just as Mimi heard Julie's footsteps in 1995, Julie heard footsteps herself the next year...a year in which seven pianists (all but one duking it out in the RDs) tried OTPP competition for the first time. 

That meant new RD'ers Gale Foehner, Will Hahn, T.J. Thompson, Brad Pregeant, John Skaggs, and an Irishman named Desmond Crawford.

The lone new JD'er, Illinoisan Hillary Fedirka, joined Max from Missouri in trying to get the title Marty S. wasn't able to fight to keep in 1996 (circumstances kept him from making the trip from the Chicago suburbs to Decatur that Memorial Day weekend).

It was almost Max' year.

Instead, 1996 was Pennsylvania Dan's year.

By three points. 

Over in the Regs, Brian went from knocking on the door to the division's Top Five to kicking it down. He and John Skaggs ended up replacing Bill E. and Marty M. as the two men in the Regular Division's money line...and Faye wound up taking Linda's place in the RD Top Five. (Linda, Marty M., and Bill E. didn't taste it up in 1996.) 

Julie Mac heard footsteps, all right...but she still outplayed Brian and kept her place at the top of the Regular Division. Brian, meanwhile, passed up Mimi and relegated her to third place (with Faye and John Skaggs rounding out the quintet). 

But the Man from Indiana served notice...and the next three OTPP Contests would belong to him. (Well, at least the adult competition would belong to him.)

I didn't get to see Brian Holland snag his first RD crown. I'd moved from Sioux City, IA back here to Omaha, NE on 3-29-1997...and I hadn't yet earned enough vacation time at my new job (with an information technology company) to make the trip back to Central Illinois. 

By contrast, Noah did get to come back to Central Illinois...and he had to fight off three new JD contestants: Mindy Dunkle, Neil Blaze, and John Clark.

The only new adult contestants in 1997 were Steve Kummer and Arlene Stoller. Meanwhile, Aaron George came back...after sitting out the previous six contests. In all, fourteen older pianists joined the four younger ones.

Mindy caught Noah at the top of the Junior Division...but he prevented her from becoming the first girl to rule the JDs because of his better technical score. 

Steve acquitted himself quite well, too.

All he did was finish second in the RDs to Brian...meaning he'd also passed up Bill E., Marty M., and Adam Downey.

Yep...the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival was beginning to hit its stride, not only in terms of competition, but also in terms of fan support.

In fact, things got to the point where the performer field would grow...wildly.

When we pick up the topic again, we'll see just how wildly.

Out of the Rain

The 1980s were an era of big events and political stunts; an era of style over substance.

C. Everett Koop (Ronald Reagan's surgeon general) wanted to wear his old uniform from his days in the Navy to his new job...and because of that, all subsequent top doctors have had to don the fruit salad. 

There was Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No!" campaign to fight drug abuse. (And, by the way...alcohol is a drug, too. And that's a whole other post in itself.)

And what about the "effort" to prove the value of teachers in America...AKA the program to send one into space? 

About four months after Francis Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe- said teacher- lost their lives in the Challenger explosion, the "Hands Across America" event took place. 

It didn't help that the 1986 Memorial Day weekend was chilly and misty outside in Monticello, IL. (Monticello was one of the "Hands Across America" stops.)

And it ultimately helped drive the Monticello Railway Museum to look for a new place to hold its top fundraiser, the World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest. For '86, the organization used Monticello High School's football field as the contest venue rather than the museum itself.

It was too much to take for everybody...so, the MRM made The Decision.

The organization took the whole show to the then Holiday Inn...in Decatur, IL.

And for the first time, OTPP wouldn't have to directly fight atmospheric conditions.

That first indoor iteration of Ted Lemen's claim to fame drew eighteen contestants, with all but two competing in the Regular Division. 

So while Neil Moe only had to get past Cathy Wamsley to become the first three-time Junior Division champion, all sixteen Regular Division hopefuls advanced to the division's 1987 semifinals. Three of the adult contestants were newcomers to OTPP who'd make names for themselves in later years: Dorothy Baldwin, Betty Keller, and...the "Perfessor" himself, Bill Edwards.

And, as things turned out, Bill and Dorothy joined Linda Harmon (a newcomer from the previous year) and longtime participant Paul Gronemeier in the contest finals...won by a man who, at that time, made the Washington, DC area his stomping grounds: Ron Trotta.

As the event's final outdoor Regular champ, Ron staged a near-Garrison finish (instead of standing in last place in the 1986 RD prelims, he was fifth; Ron moved up to third at the end of the RD semis). A year later, Ron started out in first place once the 1987 RD first round came to an end and stayed on top until he was officially declared the contest's first indoor Reg champion. 

OTPP '87 was a success.

With that in mind, the contestant field for 1988 jumped up to 23...twenty RDs and three JDs. 

In the Junior field, only Cathy had a 1986-87 connection...but she still wasn't able to connect with the division's top prize. Neither did Neil's sister, Mary Ann.

Mary Ann and Cathy could only watch as Dax Baumgartner inaugurated his own three-year stay at the head of the Junior Division. 

Mary Ann's brother was part of the activity that continued to reshape the Regular Division- a contingent that saw Ed and Janet Kaizer come back for some more prize money (and in Janet's case, a chance to snatch the Traveling Trophy out of Ron's grip and get the statue back for herself). Dale Wells came back, too.

To top it all off, five newcomers who'd go on to become huge names in old-time piano made the trip to Decatur: Dick Zimmerman, Todd Robbins, Jim Radloff, Marty Mincer,

and Betty's daughter Sue.

 

And after two rounds, it looked as if Sue (instead of Janet) would be the one to give Ron a taste of his own medicine.

But the ex-math teacher from the Nation's Capital became the third undefeated RD champion...after breaking a semifinal-round tie with Sue Keller. And Janet, Paul, Linda, and Marty joined Ron and Sue as Reg finalists.

1989 saw other OTPP changes besides a Regular Division field without Ron Trotta and his near-Garrison finishes. First of all, the contest would- for the first time- employ four judges (instead of the three of previous years). 

Second, two new JD contestants (Jason Planck and Christina Sparks) would try to stop Dax from successfully defending his newly-won crown. 

Plus, in the RD, seven newcomers would join in the hunt (nineteen performers strong) to hoist the Traveling Trophy. Three of the biggest names were a Michigander named Taslimah Bey,

a Bay Stater named Mark Lutton,

and...an Illinoisan named Julie McClarey.

Julie had the shortest trip of them all: She and her husband Steve lived on the other side of town from Decatur's Holiday Inn.

Five cash prizes (not the six of 1986-88) awaited the nineteen Regular Division hopefuls...and after missing out in '88, "Perfessor" Bill made sure he'd get a check from the contest in his third try. Marty, Sue, and- you probably guessed it- Paul were 1989 RD finalists, too.

In fact, 1989 represented Paul Gronemeier's best chance since 1980 to jump into the OTPP winner's circle. (He finished second to Bruce Petsche in '80.)

But Julie McClarey's near-perfect technique and enthusiastic performances prevented Paul from getting his hands on the Big Dough.

And, as things turned out, the McClareys could really use the championship money.

After all, Steve's and Julie's family was growing.

What kind of effect would a growing family have on Julie's chance to defend her newly-earned title?

I'll have the answer when I come back for Part Three. (Stay tuned!)

Oh, by the way...a Bay Stater is someone from Massachusetts.