LEWISTON — He can’t sing or dance, but he starred in a music video.

Ten years ago, Rick LaChapelle, who owns the Lewiston Pawn Shop and five others throughout the state, started a contest for the company’s annual Christmas party. He gave out a prize for the best “original performance” during the annual party at Marco’s Ristorante Italiano in Lewiston.

“It all started out as a tongue-in-cheek creation that was supposed to be just for our Christmas party, but it has really taken off,” LaChapelle said of the video. “I’ve heard from people all over the country and even as far away as Chile. Of course, they all comment that I can’t sing or dance worth a damn, but say it made them laugh.

“In the past, there have been singers, dancers, poetry and musicians,” he said. “This year, we wanted to kick it up a notch, and the manager of our Portland store, Chad Powell, came up with the idea of making a music video. They decided, fittingly, to make a parody of the popular song by Macklemore called ‘Thrift Shop.'”

Over a period of three nights and a “wicked cold” afternoon on top of a parking garage in Lewiston, they filmed the various scenes in a number of local settings, centering around the anchor store at the corner of Lisbon and Cedar streets in downtown Lewiston. First, they recorded the music, using the soundtrack from the song and dubbing in their own lyrics. Then they lip-synched to a recording of the song while filming. They even had cue cards to help them with the lines.

“Some takes went smooth, but I had trouble with a couple,” LaChapelle quipped during a recent interview in his shop. “I still can’t say one that took me a million tries that goes something like: ‘Your grammy, your auntie, your momma, your mammy.'”

Very few knew about the video before the big reveal at the Dec. 7 party. LaChapelle said that the Lewiston store is made up of close friends and family; he estimates that he is related in some way to about 60 percent of them. Filming was done in secrecy with the help of friends from the church he goes to.

“I don’t want to say which one. They might not want to let it be known that the funky hats we wore, with their permission of course, were from the costumes of the wise men from their Christmas play. We are a close-knit community, and they thought it was all in good fun. In fact, the filming and production was done by some of the church members, Tom McKellick and Rian Emano.”

There were several cameo appearances by longtime friends, including Marco’s Restaurant co-owner Duane Arnold, flashing a wad of money in front of the camera, and Mike Morin, whose similar business across the street has a line that says he is a “jealous ass honkey.”

“That’s what I mean by our friendly business association. We are not really competitors, just in the same business, and we help each other out, although we do like to poke fun at each other.”

In the weeks following the Christmas party, somebody posted the video to YouTube and it went “kinda viral. There isn’t a day that goes by when somebody doesn’t come into the shop or runs into me on the street and mentions it. I know they are going to say something about it just by the way they smile before talking.” 

At the end of the video, they included some of the outtakes, which are priceless and show the fun they had making the video. “It’s going to be hard to top it next year,” LaChapelle said.