Harwich Has Talent! A benefit for the Sister Schools Project

On May 22, Harwich STAND hosted the first annual Harwich Has Talent! contest to benefit our new partnership with Djabal Refugee Camp in Chad through the Sister Schools Project, for which we raised over $600. From twenty diverse and entertaining entries, we chose four category winners and an overall winner. Interspersed in the show were presentations on the genocide in Darfur and the fate of refugees such as those at Djabal.

Special thanks to Joe Rebello and Andie Ramirez for hosting the event. MacKenzie Hamilton for presenting the Darfur segments, Megan Van Hoose for running the lights, Erik Raneo for running the sound, Amira Downs and Zack Jamous for providing the introductions in Arabic, and Sheila House, Mrs. Hemeon, Dr. Frankel, and Officer Davis for being judges. Thanks also to Laura Grose for posting the show segments on youtube and to Arielle Kiefer for shooting the video. Also to Jamie Gallerani for taking the photos posted below, and to all the Harwich STAND members who helped organize and run the show.

A few snapshots of the event below, and at the bottom a link to the youtube clips:

Our hosts doing their catwalk routine with Ellyn:


Amira doing an Arabic intro in front of the judges:


Bethany, who was part of three outstanding acts:


Pirtle, reciting his poem for which he won in the Spoken Word category (I took it as an allegory about Bashir):


Sabrina and Darnika, who sang Is This Love? with Erik and I accompanying:


Two images of Siobhan doing a beautiful ballet routine:



Robert reciting his Caesar monologue:


Chad and Sean, who won in the group musical category for their rendition of "Sounds of Silence":


Amira, singing "Iris" accompanied by Erik:


Mary, performing her gymnastics routine for which she won the Miscellaneous category:


Ashley, reciting her poem "Horses, Horses, Horses":


Pirtle, who won also for the individual music category:


Blind Drive, doing an acoustic set for which they won the overall award:


And all the winners on stage:


Here is the link to the first part of the video of the show. You can find the rest in the Related Videos box at youtube.


Here is a link to one of the videos Mac presented about Djabal - about Tracy McGrady's visit there:

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