CRESTLINE — Royalty will be crowned on the opening day of the Crestline Harvest Festival.
The 2021 festival begins Thursday.
Hannah Feldman, the reigning Crawford County Fair Queen and reigning Harvest Festival Queen, is the pageant coordinator this year. She and the judges met with contestants on Saturday.
Feldman said she began her pageant career in 2017, running for princess at the county fair and the Bratwurst Festival. She said serving as pageant director is one way of giving back to the community and helping other young women achieve their goals.
“When Clayton (Herold) told my mom and I there was no director (for the 2021 Harvest Festival pageants), we said we’d do it,” Feldman said. “We didn’t want them not to have a pageant or for it just to end, basically. So we’ve kind of stepped up and it’s kind of come naturally to the two of us.”
Following is the lineup of Little Miss Harvest Pageant contestants: Jaylynn Gonzales, Adylina Troiano, Avangeline Aaron, Julia Schimpf, Kendal Ehrman, Gracelyn Dunson, Arabella Stevens, Layla Snyder, Sophia Snyder, Payton Snyder, Michaela Duda, Chloe Herold, Joslyn Willison, Summer Hall.
Following is the list of Harvest Princess Pageant contestants: Brynn Bruner, Adalyn Dunford, Cheyenne Monk, Zoie Lohr, Kaitlyn Richardson, Aubrii Hall.
Following is the lineup of Queens Pageant contestants: Shena Parsons, Phoenix Bays, Kaylyn Risner, Isabella Stang, Miya Kinn, Mercedes Beck.
Feldman shared what she has learned as a contestant that she is passing along to the 2021 Harvest Festival contestants.
“When you’re preparing for the pageant, the thing that I always tell the girls is that the judges don’t know who you are, so you basically have to sell yourself to them,” she said. “But they want you to be authentic and natural in your presentation. We’re not doing a beauty pageant where your answer is going to be ‘world peace.’ They want to know you. They want you to make them laugh. They want you to feel comfortable in there. So that’s what I always remind the girls.”
Feldman said she is looking forward to hearing the young women answer questions during the pageant on Thursday.
“We made the questions a little bit harder than they ever have been before because we really want to know about these girls,” Feldman said. “The competition is pretty stiff this year. They’re answering a question on stage that they already know. When you go to other festivals, you introduce yourself on stage as the queen to everyone and you promote your festival. And that’s what we’re asking the girls to tell us on stage after they introduce themselves.”
The Little Miss Harvest Pageant is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on the main stage followed by the Harvest Princess Pageant at 6 p.m. The Queens Pageant will begin at 7 p.m.
