You couldn't ask for a better evening than the one that happened at the Algonquin Theater in Manasquan at Saturday's Turton Talent Show.

The show featured some of the most amazingly talented kids aged 8 to 18 performing for a packed house all for a great cause. The evening benefited CASA of Ocean County and Collier Youth Services of Monmouth County.

The first thing I want to say is that every single performance was outstanding and each kid deserved every second of the huge round of applause they received. Diane Turton, of Diane Turton Realtors, of course, local legend Joe Leone, and Broadway and off-Broadway casting director Alison Franck served as judges and did a great job!

I also got a great intro from Christie, and Annabelle did a fantastic job running the "applause" sign out onto the stage after each performance!  And we all got to see a great bonus performance from our friend Brayden! And we also got invaluable help from AJ and Willa!

I also want to congratulate the amazing 15-old Kaleigh Brendle who won "Fan Favorite Winner" and 9-year-old Gabriel Amoroso who was "1st Place Overall Winner" as chosen by the judges.

It was my pleasure to serve as the evening's emcee and I even got my own chair backstage (pictured above), despite realizing about halfway through the show that I was the least talented person back there!

Thank you so much to Diane Turton, whose vision made the evening possible, as well as Ariane Yazdan form CASA of Ocean County and Sister Debbie of Collier Youth Services for all they do.

Please visit their websites to learn about these great organizations and find out how you can help!

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