(PHOTOS BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Edgerton pageant returned to the village this weekend after a yearlong break. Girls of all ages gathered to participate in the event to receive the top title for their category.
The Miss Edgerton pageant started the tradition back in 1949 when Marilyn Lundy was crowned as the first Miss Edgerton. Marilyn Lundy was present during this year’s pageant as well as several other winners from past years.
The pageant was held at the Performing Arts Junior High Athletic Annex at 5:30pm on Saturday. The room was filled with family and friends of those competing.
With this year’s pageant being the biggest one since at least 2013, the event led to a full house. The categories for the contestants went from Little Miss, Junior Miss, Teen Miss and Miss with there being runner ups in each category as well.
There were also extra categories such as Miss Best Interviewer, Miss Congeniality, Miss Photogenic, and Miss Talent. Something new for this year also included the Warrior Queen Recognition and Directors Choice Award.
Winners of each of the top four categories received a scholarship with the runner ups receiving a cash prize and other prizes from the directors. The contestants were judged on things like their introduction, an interview, formal wear, questions asked and a reference.
The winners and runner ups for the pageant are as follows:
Queen of Queens – Felicity Thiel who is one of the outgoing queens and received this title for getting the most community service hours in her reign.
The 2021 Little Miss Edgerton was Leighton Showalter who will be entering second grade this fall and enjoys sports, swimming and spending time with her family.
Little Miss First Runner Up is Paige Taylor Hobeck who will be in kindergarten this fall. She enjoys t-ball and dancing.
The Little Miss Second Runner Up is Loretta Roberts who will be in the second grade this fall and enjoys softball, cub scouts, swimming and dancing.
Little Miss Best Interview went to Leighton Showalter. Little Miss Congeniality and Little Miss Photogenic went to Paige Taylor Hobeck.
The 2021 Junior Miss Edgerton went to Kaydance Hobeck who will be entering the 5th grade this fall. Kaydance enjoys volleyball, dance, running and swimming.
The Junior Miss First Runner Up is Maddalynne Vonalt who will also be in the 5th grade this fall. Her interests include dancing, reading, volleyball and cheerleading to name a few.
The Junior Miss Second Runner Up is Abigail Krill who will be starting 3rd grade this fall. Her interests include volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, art and music.
The Junior Miss Best Interview, Junior Miss Congeniality and Junior Miss Photogenic all went to Kaydance Hobeck.
The 2021 Teen Miss Edgerton is Hope Hamblin who will be entering the 8th grade this fall. Her interests include softball, cheerleading, swimming, doing puzzles and dancing.
The Teen Miss First Runner Up is Addilynne Bowers who will be entering the 6th grade this fall. Her interests include sports, swimming, riding her hoverboard and spending time with friends.
The Teen Miss Second Runner Up is Kaighley Jade Sutter who will be entering the 6th grade this year. Her interests include sports, art, playing with fidget toys and learning about science. The
Teen Miss Best Interview went to Addilynne Bowers. The Teen Miss Congeniality went to Morgan Cape. The Teen Miss Photogenic went to Hope Hamblin.
The 2021 Miss Edgerton went to Grace Schroeder who will be a senior this fall. Grace is involved in the Student Council, National Honor Society, 4-H and FFA. She enjoys playing sports, showing her pigs, hanging with her friends and family and being at her church youth group.
The Miss First Runner Up is McKenna Warner who will be a junior this fall. She enjoys cross country, basketball, track, signing at Life Changing Church and hanging out with friends.
The Miss Best Interview and Miss Photogenic went to Grace Schroeder. The Miss Congeniality went to McKenna Warner.
The Miss Talent Award went to both Grace Schroeder and McKenna Warner.
Adelina Puenta was the recipient for this year’s Directors Choice Award. The Directors Choice Award goes to a contestant who has always shown a positive attitude and has demonstrated courage, faith and has never stopped fighting.
The Miss Warrior Awards went to Ruby Stickan, Kailee Fort and Chloe Merillat. The Warrior Award is presented to those that have had their own personal struggles within the past year. Even though they were knocked down, they got back up and thrived.
The Annual Miss Edgerton Pageant was a great success this year after missing last year. It is currently being run by Lisa Thiel and Jill Hamblin who took over the event in 2018.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
