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Business & Tech

Montville Idol Adds to Independence Day Celebration

The first-year singing contest drew a crowd of over 100 people.

Belting out the words to popular tunes such as Taylor Swift's "Our Song," and John Mayer's "Daughters," nine local residents took part in the town's first Montville Idol competition.

Despite the heat, the event drew a crowd of more than 100 people who cheered on as the town's three most talented singers were named Montville Idols. The competition was held on Sunday, June 27, at the high school as part of the Township's Fourth of July celebration.

"I feel pretty good," said Brooke Nagel, 10, winner of the under 11 age group, "This is a great opportunity outside my school to show people my talent."

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Nagel, an aspiring singer, said this was the first opportunity she had to sing outside of school. Nagel and her family have been attending the celebration since they moved to town over 10 years ago.

"It brings you closer to the community and something like this gives you a chance to get to know something about people you never did," said Drew Nagel, Brooke's father.

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The Nagels heard about the competition from the Board of Education's weekly online newsletter, which had announced that the judges were looking for audition tapes for the competition. Judges Judy Paster, Dorie Berman, Cynthia Held and Sandy Ham had the task of narrowing these audition tapes down to the top ten contestants.

"It was very hard to pick the top ten, very hard to pick the winners," Berman said.

After viewing the performances of all of the contestants, the judges selected Nagel, who sang "On my Own," from Les Miserables,  Alex Lisi, 13, who sang "Defying Gravity" from Wicked and Amanda Lustbader, 16, who sang "I Have Nothing," by Whitney Houston.

Montville Idol is the newest addition to Township's Independence Day Celebration. According to Berman, the competition was inspired by the popularity of American Idol.

The Montville Township July 4th Committee was looking for something to draw people out on a Sunday. The committee is comprised of about 70 people, including 48 committee chair people, as well as assistants and day volunteers, who spend the whole year planning the event.

The yearly celebration has been sponsored over the last five years by Lakeland Bank, which opened its doors in 1969 and was started by a group of local businessmen. Lakeland Bank Chief Operating Officer Bob Vandenbergh says that the bank's philosophy of community service helps it stay true to the family atmosphere it had when it first opened. Currently, the bank's employees have collectively donated 15,000 hours of service.

"We think it provides a high level of personal satisfaction for the employees to be able to do that," he said. "It becomes a very nice collaborative effort."

In addition to the Montville Idol, the celebration also included fireworks, a parade, a circus, free concerts, balloon rides, a charity 5K, a flea market, classic car shows and carnival rides, including favorites such as the Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round.

"It's probably the biggest event of the year, and is really an event where the whole town comes together," said event chairman Irwin Pastor.

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