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Barrie’s Kyle Charron 4-time winner of fiddle championship

August 13, 2014   ·   0 Comments

The sun shone on the 64th Canadian Open Old Time Fiddle Championship, which wound up Saturday night with Barrie’s Kyle Charron winning for a fourth time. His previous championships were in 2011, 2009, and 2007 when, at 17, he was the youngest fiddler ever to win the title.

The previous holder of that crown, Louis Schryer, was one of the contest judges in 2007. Award results for all of the competition classes are available at www.Shelburne FiddleContest.com. Kyle also won the Canadian Tune of Choice trophy and award with Rose’s Swing by Webb Acheson.

With 60 contest entries from as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska, and over 1,500 audience members joining over the course of the event, another successful edition of Canada’s premier fiddle championship has passed into the history books.

“This was a great year for the fiddle contest and we are already getting geared up for the 65th next year – we’re going to pull out all the stops,” said Sandra Gallaugher, Chair of the Shelburne Rotary Club’s contest organizing committee.

“I really want to thank all of our contestants, judges, audience members, sponsors, helpers and supporters for assisting us in making it such a success.”

The youngest competitor this year was five-year-old Bailey Lemelin; the oldest 84-year-old Leon Stachnyk.

The Junior Championship (13-18 year olds) was won by Celine Murray of Dorchester, Ontario, home of the Donnybrook Fiddle and Stepdance Competition. This was Celine’s second Junior Championship in a row. Look for her in the Championship Class at future contests.

The Invincible Vince Mountford Memorial Trophy for “Most Entertaining Fiddler” was presented to Duncan McDougall from Uxbridge, who won the 10-12 Year Class with a great deal of showmanship.

The traditional corsage presentation, sponsored by the Hardick family, was made to Helen Lyon, who has been at every fiddle contest since 1951.

The Saturday afternoon show at the arena featured The Ballagh Bunch in a crowd pleasing fiddling, stepdancing, and singing show for a crowd of over 250. On Thursday night, the Beckett Family were a huge hit, with a crowd of over 400 treated to a variety of fiddle tunes.

Mark your calendar now for the 65th Championship: August 5-9, 2015.

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