Trino Camacho has never run a whistling contest before. He’s never even been to one.
“First time,” he says.
His motivation is both simple and resonant. “People just like to whistle,” he says from his perch in the JC Food Truck, parked off Highway 133 in Carbondale. “It’s universal. Everyone can whistle. You don’t have to have one language.
“A lot is happening about immigration. It’s something to bring the community together.”
The event was announced in the Crystal Theatre Alliance’s March 2 newsletter, describing a Whistling Competition / Competición de Silbidos on March 26. The poster read, “$10 for adults, $5 for kids. Prizes for competitors!”
“Some people don’t speak any English, but they know how to whistle, so they can come,” says Camacho.
An onstage emcee (possibly Camacho’s wife, Jessica Palomarez, whom he met at Basalt High School) will speak in both English and Spanish. The event will be judged, and contestants will have 30-second spots in which to whistle their stuff. The format is one round only, with generous prizes for first, second and third in both adult and children’s divisions.
Wait, does Camacho whistle?
“I do, but I’m really bad at it,” he says with a laugh. He’d be happy to whistle to start the contest, though, “to tell them, ‘It’s OK if you’re bad.’”
“Everybody whistles at some point,” he adds. “One friend in Mexico, he passed away, was always whistling. I said, hey, you’re really bad at whistling, stop. But” — Camacho smiles — “[whistling] reminds me of him.” The friend, Cristian Viaira, died at 24 in an automobile accident.
In the background as Camacho speaks, Saul Soto, his partner in the business, trills an impressive multi-note whistle, and another, and another.
“He whistles in the morning, all day, when we’re busy, when we’re slow,” says Camacho. “He sometimes sings, too.”
Camacho lives in Basalt, Soto in Silt. The food truck has been in operation for two years.
As a child in Mexico, Soto explains (translated by Camacho), he took singing lessons. “I memorized songs first by whistling, then singing them.”
Will Grandbois, general manager at the Crystal Theatre, says the whistling-comp notion arose when he visited the food truck for a meal.
“Trino mentioned to me that he had this idea and he’d love to do it at the theater,” Grandbois says. Later they sat down together and worked out details. “He’s very much taking the lead.
“We remain a movie theater, but we’re really looking to branch out.”
Kate Schwerin, the nonprofit theater’s executive director, has a background in events — with several (such as a comedy night and a dating social) happening there lately — but management needs local expediters.
“We’re grateful to have Trino as a collaborator,” Grandbois says. “It’s a full-court press to make these things happen.” He sees this event as entertaining, family-friendly and “uplifting.”
Wondering what to whistle? Well, anything. A few numbers that contain whistling include “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” from Paul Simon or “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People has a cheerful riff that contrasts to its grim subject material. Others among many are “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, “Different” by Ximena Sarinaña and “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles.
People whistle blues, show tunes, carols. This author has been trying, without success, to whistle passages from the symphonic children’s tale “Peter and the Wolf” while driving. In “Catcher in the Rye,” a garrulous, boring, raspy-voiced roommate whistles such sweet and easy renditions of jazz tunes like “Tin Roof Blues,” he teaches the cynical narrator Holden Caulfield that people he dismisses might have redeeming features.
Says Grandbois, “One of the great things about running a venue is having people come to us with new, fresh events, saying, ‘Hey, let’s try something.’”
Camacho says, “I hope we do more, other things, to bring the community together, Latinos and Anglos. To do things together, participate.”
To register as a contestant for the March 26 (6pm) Whistling Competition at the Crystal Theatre, stop by JC Food Truck. The truck operates in the Tumbleweed parking lot from 9:30am to 7pm weekdays and 11am to 3pm on Saturdays. Contest information will also be posted on JC Food Truck’s Facebook page.
Winning prizes!
First, second and third place prizes — including cash and theater and food truck vouchers — will be awarded in both the adult and children’s divisions. Here’s a breakdown …
Adults
First Place
$200 cash
$100 JC Food Truck certificate
$100 value Crystal Theatre Alliance movie punch pass
Second
$150 cash
$50 JC Food Truck certificate
$50 Crystal Theatre Alliance passes
Third
$50 cash
$50 JC Food Truck certificate
$28 Crystal Theatre Alliance vouchers (tickets, food)
Children, age 7 to 16
First Place
$150 cash
$50 JC Food Truck certificate
$56 in Crystal Theatre Alliance vouchers (tickets, food)
Second
$50 cash
$50 JC Food Truck certificate
$42 Crystal Theatre Alliance vouchers (tickets, food)
Third
$25 cash
$25 JC Food Truck certificate
$28 Crystal Theatre Alliance vouchers (tickets, food)