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Martha Douce Maniaci
to be
Grand Marshall
When the 2011 Marion Popcorn Festival’s
Orville Redenbacher Parade steps off at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday of
the Festival, two of Marion’s dance queens will be featured at
the helm. Martha
Douce Maniaci has been named grand marshal, and Carol Ault
tapped as the honorary grand marshal.
Maniaci founded Douce Dance Studios in 1945
when she began teaching baton twirling in her parent’s home to
15 students. She had
also studied ballet, tap, and jazz.
After marrying Joe in 1950, the Maniacis went to New York
City to study ballroom.
Nearly 70 years and thousands of students later, Douce
Dance Studios have locations in Marion, Cincinnati, Bucyrus,
Delaware, Galion, Mt. Gilead and Waldo, and their students have
been Miss Ohio representatives to the Miss America pageant,
major college drum majors, cheerleaders, and performers on
Broadway.
“I was so excited to be asked to be the
grand marshal,” Maniaci said.
“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me … well,
next to Joe, that is.
I’ve got my outfit already picked out and ready to go.
You know,” she continued, “I’ve had a float for my dance
studio in every single popcorn parade … and we’re ready to go
again this year. I
just love it!”
Maniaci also founded and named the Popcorn
Bowl “in about 1985” which showcases the opening games of the
Marion Midget Football program.
She has been the secretary of Marion Midget Football for
33 years.
A member of St. Mary Church, Maniaci is
also a part of Marion’s Junior Service Guild and the Republican
party. She has three
daughters, Marilyn (Russ) McBride, LuAnn (Kevan) Hartman, and
Suzanne (Tom) Harris, and a son, Joe (Kari) Maniaci III.
Maniaci is also “proud to be called grandma” by 15
grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.
Ault began teaching dance in 1952, her
freshman year in high school, and, after graduation, began
teaching for a branch of Par Studio.
Ault fondly remembers, “My first teacher was Marilyn
Meskey … Marion’s Miss America.
I loved my high school tap teachers,” said Ault, “Ray and
Pat Basore … and both Martha and I took lessons from Jack
Sharrock and Jimmy Rawlins in Columbus.”
In 1971, Ault began teaching classes in the
family’s Caledonia garage until – with over 100 students – her
husband told her she needed to find a someplace different and,
in 1981, Carol Ault’s Dance Factory was born. Thousands of
students later, Ault says the studio has grown and adapted as
dance styles change to include not only the basics of tap,
ballet and jazz but also acro, hip hop, lyrical, clogging,
Riverdance, pageant modeling, cheer leading, and some ballroom.
Ault has been part of the “popcorn family”
since 1985 when she was asked her to choreograph the opening
number of the Miss Marion Popcorn pageant.
Ault said, “I had so much fun, I was hooked.” About that
same, Ault said, she and friend Pat Anthony dressed up as
gorillas and went down the parade route on a golf cart waving
and “doing silly gorilla-type things.”
Ault has also been a faithful participant
in the Festival’s annual Cooking Contest. “I’ve come in second
twice and was featured on the Food Channel’s program about the
Festival,” said Ault. “My goal this year is to beat Pops (her
husband) who took second place last year.” Ault and her friend
Pat Coldren were also the architects of a tiered Popcorn Wedding
Cake for a couple who got married during the Popcorn Festival
several years ago.
Ault and her husband of 56 years, Gene
“Pops”, have six children: Cathy (Steve) Marshall, Christy
(Mike) Frank, Maxine Morrow, Andrea (Clyde) Knipp, Gary (Dawn)
Ault, and Susan (Tim) DeBolt. “Grandma Dance,” as Ault’s five
grandchildren call her, also has five great grandchildren.
She is a member of the Caledonia United Methodist Church,
and was also a 4-H advisor for 15 years.
“Whether you’re a fan of the classic
Hollywood dance movies like Gene Kelly’s
Singing in the Rain or
the original Shall we
Dance with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,” said Parade
Chairman Mary Dutton, “or the more modern ones like
Dirty Dancing or the
Jennifer Lopez/Richard Gere version of
Shall we Dance, you
have an appreciation of the impact these movies have had across
America over the years.
When we were looking at who would best fit our grand
marshal roles and the Hooray for Hollywood theme, these two
women fit the bill perfectly.
Both have not only been big supporters of the Festival,
but the number of children they have coached and mentored in all
forms of dance throughout the years is phenomenal.”
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