Photo Ross Gallabrese Members of the Cugines performed Saturday afternoon at the Spot Bar as part of the 30th-annual Dean Martin Hometown Festival.

STEUBENVILLE — An idea to recreate the old amateur-hour format that pushed a young Dino Crocetti toward becoming one of the greatest entertainers of all time brought young talent to the stage Saturday.

Crocetti’s win in that competition, held at the old Capitol Theater that once stood on Fourth Street, helped him rise to become Dean Martin and inspired the Dean Martin Hometown Festival Night of Future Stars.

“Back 90 years ago, Dean Martin won an amateur-hour competition, and that inspired him to become an entertainer,” said Bobbyjon Bauman, executive director of the Sycamore Youth Center, where the event was held. “And so, 90 years later, in a building that actually was here when he was alive, we’re going to have an amateur hour, just like he was a part of.”

There was no prize money involved this year, Bauman explained, but four area residents — Evan Conn, Bella Thompson, Lynzee Ensell and Sam Allison — took to the stage to show off their specialties.

The event was one part of a packed schedule on the final day of the festival’s 30th anniversary, which began with the Dino Dash and included the Honor Flight Columbus Tribute Show, a performance by Joe Scalissi at Undo’s in Weirton, a supper club event at Froehlich’s Classic Corner and performances by the Cugines, Dave Salera and Tom Stevens at the Spot Bar.

Martin, who was born in Steubenville on June 7, 1917, joined with his one-time partner, Jerry Lewis, to help start the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethons that would become a staple of Labor Day television viewing. The show at the Sycamore Center looked to replicate that atmosphere and included a presentation by the Steubenville Fire Department and a discussion about how the International Association of Fire Fighters became longtime supporters of the work of the association.

“What we’re trying to do is highlight local talent, just like he was a local talent, and we’re trying to bring that forward today,” Bauman said.

Bauman pointed out the Sycamore Center, located at the corner of North Fourth and North streets, is in a building that was built in 1892 and once was the home of Calvary Methodist Church. It was a building Martin likely passed often while growing up, he added.

Helping Bauman with master of ceremonies duties was Dave Shelton, whose credits include being a writer for the TV show “Everybody Loves Raymond,” as well as work with Nickelodeon and Disney. He also does charity work and has written the theme for the Special Olympics.

“Events like this are important because they are part of the Dean Martin Festival, which brings attention to Dean and his legacy, as well as his philanthropy and all the amazing things he did for kids and people in general,” Shelton said. “He was so giving. He did everything for different charities.

“From what I know, he would, just on a whim, if someone called him up and said, ‘Hey, we need you for this,’ he would totally do it,” Shelton continued. “I thought, what an amazing man, not just talented but funny. I like that because I’m a comedian, so I like funny people, and Dean cracked me up. It was not just the roasts — it was the variety shows. He always had the best people on, like Rodney Dangerfield and everybody like that.”

Shelton, who added he had put together a roast of Lou Martini Jr., longtime festival master of ceremonies who had a role in “The Sopranos,” said the idea for the local show’s format came from Cindy Williford, festival organizer and president of the Dean Martin Association of America.

“She reached out to me because she had seen the Valley’s Got Talent competitions online and some of the things that had been posted about the young talent that had been a part of some of things Sycamore does,” Bauman said.

He added that events like the Martin festival are important for the community.

“I believe that all cities have different people who have been cultural icons who have done well and have been noted throughout the larger United States and the world, and for Steubenville, that is Dean Martin,” he said. “It’s a way that puts Steubenville on the map. I was with somebody last week, and when I mentioned that Steubenville is where Martin is from, his eyes lit up at that point.

“He was a cultural icon for us,” Bauman continued. “Hopefully, he even has some inspiration today, even for the youth today who want to go into the entertainment field.”

Martin’s biggest gift was that his talent was versatile enough to work across all mediums, a legacy that has allowed him to remain popular more than 30 years after his death on Christmas Day 1995.

It’s what made Brandon Reed want to drive his grandmother from Hookstown, Pa., to the Spot Bar for the first time Saturday afternoon to watch the Cugines perform as part of the festival.

“I think there’s something with his music that everybody feels very inspired by, especially because he came from such a small town as Steubenville,” Reed said. “Everybody just seems feeling really inspired by his music. I really haven’t been following Dean Martin for too long, but from what I have been seeing today, they’ve been saying he is very inspirational.”

Madison Weaver, also from Hookstown, agreed.

“I think his legacy has carried on throughout generations,” she said. “As much as we don’t know him from when we were younger, we know people who do love him and it’s carried on.”

Bauman said Martin’s abilities continue to shine.

“If somebody is talented enough, that talent will carry on for generations, even after their death,” he said. “I think just the quality of the work and the material he came up with in terms of his musical prowess, as well as the films he put out, are still things that make people laugh today. A lot of his films with Lewis and others, as well as his music, are timeless. It’s just the quality of his work.”