Girl Named Tom celebrates Sunshine Communities’ 75th anniversary
Story and photos by Kyle Brown
Maumee – To celebrate 75 years of supporting individuals with developmental disabilities of all ages in Northwest Ohio, Sunshine Communities closed out the year-long festivities with a concert headlined by local band and The Voice winner Girl Named Tom.
The band is a trio of siblings (Bekah, Joshua and Caleb Liechty) from Pettisville, Ohio who won the NBC reality TV show on Dec. 14, 2021. They returned home to celebrate Sunshine’s anniversary in Downtown Maumee on Saturday night.
People flooded into Maumee to hear the now-famous band, as well as eat at food trucks and shop at merchandise vender booths and open storefronts on Conant and surrounding streets.
Before opening band Chloe and The Steel Strings took the stage at 5:30 p.m., I caught up with Toledoan Joel Shenk, a Sunshine Communities board member for five years. He said he was happy to support Sunshine in an event like this.
“The community knows Sunshine pretty well. The legacy of important work and supporting the needs of our community is what Sunshine is all about,” he said. “The mission to create a community, not only with the people of our organization but with the greater Maumee community, as well, is what Sunshine’s about.”
Shenk was accompanied by his wife and two daughters, Roslyn and Lizzy, who had seen a few of Girl Named Tom performances on The Voice.
Girl Named Tom also met with me to discuss what led them to celebrate the anniversary and why they enjoy coming back to the area for local shows.
“We’re always looking for new opportunities to come back here, but we have to be strategic about spacing it out right. We don’t want to be overplaying our hometown … even our hometown can get tired of us,” they quipped.
When Sunshine reached out to propose a date, we were like, ‘Whoa!’ This early fall time looked really nice and it just kind of worked. The two worlds came together at the right time.
Girl Named Tom
The band also talked about their upbringing and how the Mennonite faith they share aligned with “what Sunshine does as a whole.”
Girl Named Tom commented that their dad was a chair member in the organizing of the Black Swamp Benefits, where they would help raise funds that went to Sunshine Communities. “I don’t know how helpful we were, but we were in the dunk tank, and the foosball tournament was always a classic!”
When it came to why they enjoy doing hometown shows, their response was, “This community raised us in many ways, so we want to keep those roots strong in this community. They were the first believers in what we had. They said ‘You have something special in the three of you, and you should take this as far as you can!'”
The band said they are always evolving and changing as a band and musicians, and that it is always nice to come back and display where they are now, and keep the community invested on where they are going.
The main event began shortly after 7 p.m., a presentation of $5,000 to Sunshine from Centurions MC and a three-song performance from Sunshine’s Bell Choir.
When Girl Named Tom took the stage there was a huge standing ovation. It was very apparent from the start how well loved the band is around this area. Throughout the night, Bekah, Joshua and Caleb would stop and chat with the crowd. Sometimes it would be about the background of the next song, and other times to ask the crowd questions, such as “Who knew of us before we went on and won The Voice?” Looking around, it was apparent much of the audience were fans.
When the band sang their song, In Your Shoes, they mentioned how the song related to Sunshine and it’s mission, saying, “It encapsulates Sunshine perfectly.”
Near the end of the night, fans got up and danced near the front of the stage when the band played their hit song Get a Little Lost. As people saw how happy it made the band, more joined in. By the end of the song, the area near the front of the stage was filled with people dancing, jumping and singing along. And lead vocalist Bekah greeted fans while continuing to perform.
The crowd size was astounding. Hundreds of people filled the streets, all the way back to Georgette’s coffee shop. A very receptive crowd appeared constantly cheered and clapped during songs. When Bekah announced that 15 percent of each merch sale would be donated back to Sunshine, the fans made it known they appreciated the gesture.
A final bow came after a two-song encore, signaling an end to a great turnout to celebrate Sunshine’s 75th birthday.
As the crowd filed out, a fan from Pettisville, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that it was “one the the best local shows they have put on in the last five years. To see how much they have grown as musicians, it’s inspirational. Then, to be supportive of Sunshine and give back to their roots, how can you not love them!”
