MALONE — The Small Town Famous show provided the entertainment Tuesday night at the Franklin County Fairgrounds while raising funds for the local Meals on Wheels program.
With acts ranging from singers to guitar players, dancers and a fire baton routine there was plenty of talent on display at the main stage in front of the grandstand in Malone.
Organized by the Performing Arts League of Malone (P.A.L.M.), the show, in its sixth consecutive year at the fair, was accompanied by a fundraiser to benefit the local Meals on Wheels program based at the Malone Adult Center.
Tuesday’s show was emceed by Travis Preve and Matt Maneely, with Bernie Brown as the music director.
Laura Rabideau, treasurer of the P.A.L.M group was one of the evening’s performers, throwing and catching a fire baton while dancing to the song “Light’em Up.”
“The show went really well this year, the talent was great. It was a long show, but we loved it and it was good talent all the way through,” Preve, P.A.L.M.’s vice president, said.
Preve said his favorite part of the annual show is seeing the performers come together before they take the stage.
“It’s exciting, when you’re downstairs the energy of the people who are going to be up on the stage. It’s a massive grandstand. Their excitement and seeing it come to fruition on stage is a lot of fun. I’ve been performing a long time, I know those feelings,” he said, “The more quality of performances that we provide I think more word will spread and it seems to be getting bigger every year.”
Preve said the P.A.L.M. group appreciates the Franklin County Agricultural Society for having no gate fees to the fairgrounds on the day of the performance. He said that the P.A.L.M. group had a bigger board this year and that was helpful both in selling tickets over the past few months and organizing Tuesday’s show.
“This year went really well,” Preve said, “We started selling tickets a little bit earlier and we sold a lot. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the final tally is, we sold quite a few this year.”
Rabideau said the group worked hard to promote the raffle this year, starting in the spring and spending time at local businesses, and using social media.
Preve said this year’s show featured a number of returning acts with some new performers joining in, including Riley and Katie Pierce, and Nicole White.
“We felt like this year was one of our best turnouts,” Rabideau said, “The talent was amazing too.”
The show concluded with a performance of “Lean On Me” by Preve, who sang and played piano during the song while the evening’s other performers joined him on stage to sing along.
“We are here to support each other and care for each other,” he said.
Stephanie Bannon, president of the P.A.L.M. group, expressed her thanks to all those who donated toward and purchased the event’s raffle tickets supporting the local Meals on Wheels program.
“Their kindness will help feed the many community members that take advantage of this wonderful program and we are deeply grateful for their support,” she said in a previous interview.
The raffle’s winners will receive 100 gallons of fuel oil or propane from one of the donors.
Another winner received a $300 gift certificate from Furniture Weekend.
A 50/50 raffle winner was also drawn on Tuesday, with the total winnings of that draw coming to $133.
According to Preve, P.A.L.M. also donated to Meals on Wheels in 2022.
“It’s such a good organization for our community. It’s for everybody to take advantage of,” Bannon said.