(PHOTOS BY BREANA RELIFORD / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
PRIDE OF WILLIAMS COUNTY … This year’s pageant featured 22 contestants from the area.
PAINTING… Miss Edon, Avyonna Hamrick, painted a picture live on stage for her special talent.
COMEDY… Miss Pioneer, Mackenzie Frame, entertained the crowd with stand-up comedy for her portion of the talent competition.
TEEN MISS WILLIAMS COUNTY… Crowned the 2025 Teen Miss Williams County Queen was Lanie Cheek of Edgerton.
LITTLE MISS WILLIAMS COUNTY… Crowned the 2025 Little Miss Williams County Queen was Skylar Roth of Pioneer.
JUNIOR MISS WILLIAMS COUNTY… Crowned the 2025 Junior Miss Williams County Queen was Evelyn Hamrick of Edon.
MISS WILLIAMS COUNTY… Crowned the 2025 Miss Williams County Queen was Avyonna Hamrick of Edon.
By: Breana Reliford
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
Twenty-two pageant queens lit up the stage of Edon High School Sunday evening to compete for the titles of Miss, Teen Miss, Junior Miss, and Little Miss Williams County.
The Pride of Williams County Pageant took place on January 19th, 2025 beginning at 5:00pm. Pageant queens residing from the area towns of Bryan, Edgerton, Edon, Montpelier, Pioneer, and West Unity, who had all won their hometown, moved on to the next stage of competing for the county crown in their age groups.
The pageant featured several entertaining competitions and events, such as winter wear presentations, questions and speeches, the talent portion, and evening wear presentations. Sparkly gowns, glamorous hair and makeup, talented showcases, and more could all be seen by the contestants.
There were several categories the queens were evaluated on. In the Little Miss age group, Little Miss Bryan Kimber Hillman received the award for Best Smile.
The award for Best Hair went to Little Miss Edon, Penelope Hamrick. The Little Miss Photogenic award was given to Penelope as well. Little Miss Congeniality, Best Queen Scene Poster, and Best Interview was awarded to Little Miss Edgerton, Grace Waikel.
The highest score of the onstage question portion was won by Little Miss Bryan Kimber Hillman. The Volunteer Award for exemplary community service was awarded to Little Miss Montpelier, Elsie Thorp. Kimber Hillman also took home the award for Best Dressed.
Little Miss Williams County 1st Runner Up was awarded to Little Miss Bryan, Kimber Hillman. However, Little Miss Pioneer Skylar Roth took the crown home for 2025 Little Miss Williams County.
In the next age group, Junior Miss West Unity Scarlett Runkel was awarded Best Smile and Best Hair. Junior Miss Photogenic went to Junior Miss Edon, Evelyn Hamrick.
Junior Miss West Unity Scarlett Runkel came back to take the Junior Miss Congeniality Award, Best Interview, and the Volunteerism Award.
Best Queen Scene Poster was given to Junior Miss Edgerton, Leighton Showalter. Junior Miss Montpelier Kaylee Barrett scored the highest for onstage questions. Evelyn Hamrick, Junior Miss Edon, won Best Dressed.
Junior Miss West Unity, Scarlett Runkel, was awarded Junior Miss Williams County 1st Runner Up. Crowned Junior Miss Williams County for 2025 was Evelyn Hamrick.
The Teen Miss Awards featured six contestants from the surrounding areas, all fighting hard for the title. Teen Miss Edgerton Lanie Cheek swept the competition for Best Smile, Most Photogenic, Teen Miss Congeniality, and Best Queen Scene Poster.
Teen Miss West Unity Nayah Rodriguez picked up the award for Best Hair, Highest Onstage Question Score, and Best Dressed. The Top Interview Award was presented to Teen Miss Edon, Avery Aldrich. The Volunteerism Award was given to Teen Miss Bryan, Addison Witte.
When it came to the crown, Teen Miss Williams County 1st Runner Up was awarded to Junior Miss West Unity, Nayah Rodriguez. Teen Miss Williams County 2025 was presented to Teen Miss Edgerton, Lanie Cheek.
Finally, the awards for Miss Williams County Contestants were distributed. First up, the Best Smile Award recipient was Miss Edon, Avyonna Hamrick. The Best Hair award was presented to Miss Bryan, Zoey Gillett, who also won Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality.
Best Queen Scene Poster was awarded to Miss Edgerton, Cara Schroeder. Best Interview was claimed by Miss Pioneer, Mackenzie Frame, who also won the Volunteerism Award.
Only the Miss Contestants were eligible to compete for the talent portion. The queens showcased a variety of performances. Miss Edon, Avyonna Hamrick completed a live painting. Miss Bryan, Zoey Gillett, wrote and performed her own personal monologue.
Cara Schroeder, Miss Edgerton, performed a sign language rendition of a song for her talent. Miss Pioneer, Mackenzie Frame, practiced stand-up comedy.
Piper JoHantgen, Miss Montpelier, performed a song on the flute. The winner of the talent portion who received the highest score was Miss Edon, Avyonna Hamrick.
Avyonna also went on to win Highest Onstage Presentation, Best Dressed, and the Most Beautiful Inside Award.
Miss Williams County 1st Runner Up was awarded to Miss Bryan, Zoey Gillett. The winner of Miss Williams County 2025 was presented to Miss Edon, Avyonna Hamrick.
The last two awards of the night were given to Junior Miss Pioneer, Kensington Creek, for Top Seller of the Pageant, and Miss Edgerton, Cara Schroeder, for the People’s Choice Award.
The Queens will go on to complete volunteer work in their community, can be seen on parade floats this summer, help out with local pageants, and return to hand over the title in 2026.
