BOBMANIA #11: Dylan wannabe contest in Vermont

Thanks to Patrick Mullikin:

MONTPELIER – Hang up your Pilgrim hats, unearth your Ray-Bans, wipe the turkey grease off your fingers and grab your guitar! Round out your Thanksgiving festivities with a central Vermont tradition: The Fourth Annual Great Green Mountain Bob Dylan Wanna-Be Contest on Saturday, Nov. 24, beginning at 7 p.m. To accommodate its increasing fan base, we're told this year's show will be held at Lost Nation Theater in Montpelier City Hall.

Tickets will be sold for $10 each with proceeds to benefit the effort to start a YMCA in central Vermont.

That's only fitting, according to event organizer Michele Leno.

"The Dylan Wannabe contest is some of the best fun you'll find in central Vermont, and like the YMCA, it offers something for everyone," says Leno, who has adopted the event from its originator, Patrick Mullikin. However, Mullikin remains a guiding force behind the event and has agreed to serve as Master of Ceremonies this year.

Last year nearly 300 diehard Dylan fans overflowed the basement of Montpelier's Unitarian Universalist Church as 24 Dylan lookalikes/soundalikes performed material from the musician's five-decades-long career.

Who won?

A young Dylan look-alike named Ethan Gilbert claimed the 2006 crown with his version of "Girl from the North Country."

For more information/to register, e-mail: willin2Bdylan@hotmail.com, or write: The Fourth Annual Great Green Mountain Bob Dylan Wanna-Be Contest, 960 Sanders Circle, Montpelier, VT 05602, USA.