Mission Valley Has Talent 2019 on stage in Polson

Robert Parot’s Native American Hoop Dance won first place at Mission Valley Has Talent 2018.

The audience, awestruck by his performance as he worked with multiple hoops at one time, will get a chance to see him perform at the Friday, March 15 event to be held at 7 p.m. at the Polson High School Auditorium.

Parot, of Seneca and Kootenai heritage, built his routine from what he learned from his father. He is now practicing while teaching his 7-year-old son to dance.

Fifteen contestants between the ages of 5 and 95 will vie for cash prizes in three age categories: 5 to 12, 13 to 17 and 18 to 95. First place in each category wins $250, second place $150, and third $100.

Mission Valley Has Talent is a fundraiser for the Helping Hands Fund. The first event, held in 2018, raised more than $6,000 for the fund, a nonprofit ministry supported by the Mission Valley Ministerial Association.

The fund administrator says “we try to make sure that our babies, children, elderly, disabled, and generally the neediest of needy are being served.” Helping Hands Fund works with people seeking basic needs such as food, gas and personal care items. The program is growing. Two of the most recent additions include the Baby Box Project, which provides a safe sleep space for every infant born in the county, and the Backpack Project, which, in conjunction with the local Polson Police Department, provides items for children displaced in drug raids.

Tickets for Mission Valley Has Talent 2019 can be purchased online www.missionvalleyhastalent.org; in Polson at Sweet Bliss, 1st American Title, Glacier Bank and BHHS Montana Properties Polson; in St. Ignatius at Gambles; and at the door. Ticket are $5 for students through high school and $10 adults.