Staying up late for a chance at fame
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
Dennis and Jody Dinkel got a double dose of David Letterman the past couple of weeks.
Letterman was the person that the Hays couple's youngest child, Casey, chose to portray in this year's Famous Figures competition for fifth-graders sponsored by the Hays Arts Council.
Casey would practice every night before he went to bed the past couple of weeks, and his parents then would stay up and watch the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS to pick up extra tips for Casey.
Now, the Dinkels might get to watch their son on the Late Show some night.
At Friday's Ellis County finals of the Famous Figures event at the 12th Street Auditorium, Casey was chosen the top performer by a panel of three judges among the 30 finalists.
After the trophy winners -- the top five finisherse -- were announced, Casey's teacher, Janell Beilman, thought of sending in a tape of his 3-minute performance to Letterman.
"I e-mailed the David Letterman Show and explained a little about Famous Figures and that we had a young man in my class who chose to portray (Letterman) for this competition and that he won first place," Beilman said. "Now, I'll just have to wait and see if I get a reply."
Casey said he wasn't sure until March who he wanted to portray. Students researched a "famous figure," then portray that character following certain guidelines set by the arts council.
"I chose him because a lot of my friends like funny things, and they think I'm pretty funny," said Casey, who gave facts about Letterman's life with a "Top 10" list.
Number one was: "I can't sing, dance or act, so what else can I be but a talk show host?"
"It was an all-out hit," Beilman said. "I hope we hear from (Letterman)."
Until then, Casey and the other winners will get at least one more chance to perform. Each year, the trophy winners from the Famous Figures event are invited to a meeting of the Hays Rotary Club.
Beilman has enjoyed a lot of success in Famous Figures, both as a teacher and personally, the past several years.
Casey's older sister, Kylie -- now an eighth-grader at Kennedy Middle School -- also was a student of Beilman's when she finished second in the contest three years ago. And Beilman's son, Kaden, was fourth last year.
But Friday was an especially successful day for Beilman, who had another student, Alexis Wasinger, place third overall. Alexis played Marlo Thomas, star of the former sitcom "That Girl" and the national outreach director of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Finishing second in the competition was Bethany Staab from Holy Family Elementary. Bethany played Irena Sendler, a Polish Roman Catholic social worker who helped save 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II.
Other trophy winners were Andrew McGinnis from Roosevelt and Graydon Olson from O'Loughlin.
Andrew played soccer star David Beckham and placed fourth. Graydon, who placed fifth, portrayed Wilbur Wright, who made history with his brother on the first ever powered flight with humans aboard in 1903.
