This year’s Miss O’Fallon Pageant takes on special meaning
When the Miss O’Fallon Scholarship Pageant takes place Saturday, July 30, it will be special for several reasons.
It not only is the 100th anniversary of the event, but it marks a return after a two-year absence because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Doors will open at 5 p.m., with the pageant beginning at 6 p.m. at the Milburn Campus Auditorium of the O’Fallon Township High School. Admission is $10.
Lauren Hairr, Natalie Hale, and Kara Millner are this year’s contestants.
Kristy Schulte, who has been the director since 1995, became involved in the organization after she was crowned Miss O’Fallon in 1988.
“We are very excited to have the pageant back this year. We weren’t sure how many girls would be interested since it has been so long, but we have three wonderful contestants this year,” she said.
“They are all very smart and talented and are excited for this opportunity to be a representative of O’Fallon. They are all going to be seniors this year and are very active at OTHS. They have been working hard preparing for the pageant and are all good friends,” she said.
Schulte said because there are only three contestants, they will only crown the winner — no runners-up this year.
To mark the 100th anniversary, they will mention different ways the pageant has changed and grown over the years. They hope to have many former queens in attendance.
Overall, Miss O’Fallon is a representative of the city, and attends ribbon-cutting ceremonies, speaks at city council meetings, attends Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day events, speaks at O’Fallon grade schools, and attends various other events in neighboring communities. The city sponsors the pageant, through the parks and recreation department.
“The Miss O’Fallon Pageant is special because you must live in the OTHS school district to participate. All of our contestants have always been wonderful and want to be a bigger part of our community,” Schulte said.
Scholarships are awarded to the winner. In previous years, they have also been awarded to the runners-up.
A change this year that was set to be implemented in 2020 is the swimsuit portion has been eliminated.
“It has been replaced with an on-stage question. Each contestant will pull a random question from a bowl and give their answer on stage. Our hope is that this will allow the audience to get to know each contestant a little better,” Schulte said.
She believes the pageant helps the young women in several ways, but mostly with confidence.
“It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there and be judged. The interview portion — which is held right before the pageant begins — is where the judges get to know each of the contestants. The judges meet with them individually for seven minutes and ask a lot of questions. For most contestants, this is the first time they have had this type of interview,” Schulte said.
Heart-felt farewell from 2019 Miss O’Fallon
In a farewell letter, Miss O’Fallon Hannah Bennion, spoke of how meeting people while out in the community changed her outlook.
“The night I became Miss O’Fallon was an amazing experience. The months following, I got to go out into the community to work with the veterans, to go to the senior homes, to work with our police officers and raise money for Special Olympics and for other important things. For one of the first times in my life, I was realizing how important it was to create relationships with people around us,” she wrote.
Bennion, now on an 18-month mission for her church, said: “I love you O’Fallon! Thank you so much for letting me serve you.”
Committee praise, how to donate
Schulte complimented the pageant committee for all their hard work: Jamie Lewis, Lynae Vahle, Alyssa Kellhofer and Mike and Sue Cook. Many of their family members will also help the night of the pageant.
“We have a great committee who are all very dedicated to the pageant,” she said.
People may donate to the Miss O’Fallon Scholarship Fund at the Bank of O’Fallon.
For more information, contact Schulte at MissOFallon@gmail.com.