Julie Suhr and her dog kicked off the annual Ava Nichols Faculty Pageant on Monday night with a howling rendition of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love with You."
Suhr, a psychology professor and director of clinical training at Ohio University, brought Elvis the dog, dressed in a sparkly Elvis Presley costume, and her daughter Meredith to perform in Baker Ballroom. Elvis the dog joined in with his music abilities of barking and howling while Suhr played a kazoo and her daughter played the trumpet.
However, Suhr and Elvis were bested by John McCarthy, who stepped onstage in his tuxedo as Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones announced as the winner of the pageant.
Deemed “the one person with real talent,” by Hall-Jones, McCarthy was crowned with a glittery tiara for his performance of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from the musical Oklahoma. His talented voice was met with lots of applause from the audience. Although McCarthy, an associate professor of communication sciences and disorders, admitted he rarely sings for anyone but his children, he agreed to perform because he felt the pageant benefitted a great cause.
Ohio University's chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, co-educational service fraternity, started the charity event and hosted the pageant for the eighth year in a row. The group raised about $1,600 for Camp Quality, a camp in Ohio dedicated to "helping kids with cancer be kids again," camp director Brian Krebs said.
"We look forward to it every year," Ava's mother Traci said. "The fact that this many years later, the kids are remembering Ava, means the world to us, because you never want somebody to forget your child."
The pageant included three main events: formal wear, a talent portion and a Q&A session.
As a member of student affairs within the Patton College of Education, Joy Cobb admitted during her Q&A that her only talent was reading a DARS. She brought her talent to the event by rapping an explanation of how to read a DARS while wearing leather pants and a fedora.
"Representing for my people out in Patton College," she said with a fist pump to the audience.
Graduate assistant Joe Brenckle excited the crowd when he joined eight participants on stage for a line dance to a song mash-up, including "Uptown Funk" by Bruno Mars, "Nobody's Perfect" by Hannah Montana and "Live While We're Young" by One Direction. Many jazz hands were involved.
Alpha Phi Omega's event coordinator Madison Baumer said the event was nearly a year in the making, and she was proud to see it all come together.
"I wouldn't trade it," said Baumer.
