Miss O’Fallon Pageant back on, set for Saturday, July 30, at Milburn Auditorium
After a two-year hiatus due to COVID, the Miss O’Fallon Scholarship Pageant is back taking center stage.
The event will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 30, in the O’Fallon Township High School Milburn Campus Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and the doors will open at 5 p.m.
This is the 100th anniversary of the pageant as well.
As Miss O’Fallon, the individual is a representative of the city attending ribbon cutting ceremonies, speaking at city council meetings, attending Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day events, speaking at O’Fallon grade schools and attending various other events in neighboring communities.
Scholarships are awarded to the winner as well as 1st and 2nd runner ups.
The Miss O’Fallon Scholarship Pageant is sponsored by the city of O’Fallon, under the Parks and Recreation Department.
If people want to make a donation to the Miss O’Fallon Scholarship Fund, the account is held at the Bank of O’Fallon, 901 S. Lincoln.
For further information, please contact Kristy Schulte by email at MissOFallon@gmail.com.
Below are the bios on this year’s contestants, along with a farewell letter from Miss O’Fallon 2019 Hannah Bennion.
Lauren Hairr
Lauren Hairr, 17, is the daughter of Colleen and Patrick Hairr. She is the youngest of four children. Living in O’Fallon since she was 3, it’s the only home she can remember. She is grateful to have the opportunity to run for Miss O’Fallon, because she feels O’Fallon is truly her home. The community has always been so welcoming towards her, and she’s grateful for the opportunity to give back.
In school, Lauren strives for academic success. She attends SWIC as part of the Running Start program and is on track to graduate high school with an associate’s degree. Back at the high school, she participates in the honors chamber choir and is quite passionate about singing. She has been singing for her entire life, and through choir has been able to participate in District choir for seven years, all-state for two years, and even made it as an alternate for Nationals two years in a row. She has always tried her hardest to succeed in music, and is happy with her accomplishments.
Outside of school, Lauren is a social butterfly. She loves to drive around O’Fallon with her friends and see the town in all its beauty. Whether it be getting a cruller from Wood Bakery or going to Six Flags, Lauren is always down for an adventure. For her church, Lauren was class president of her fellow teenage girls for four years in a row. She organized plans for the class and constantly made sure that everyone felt welcome and wanted. She was also part of show choir and madrigals, and even had the opportunity to be one of the jesters. She had so much fun and is looking forward to having even more fun in the Miss O’Fallon pageant.
Lauren loves to play pickle ball at Hesse Park and kayak in the summers. Other than singing, she loves to sew and has made over 15 quilts and other miscellaneous items. She loves to help in sewing projects around the community. She also loves to bake, and she frequently bakes desserts to deliver to friends around town. When school dance season comes around, she enjoys making corsages for her and her friends. Lauren loves arranging flowers and hopes to open a flower shop one day.
Lauren plans on attending Missouri State University to pursue a degree in business administration and hospitality leadership.
In work, school, or church, Lauren makes an impact on her peers by always demonstrating kindness and love. She is known by many for her acts of charity and her positive attitude. She wants to share the message that even when it’s difficult, everyone is worthy of a little extra kindness.
Natalie Hale
Natalie Hale, 16, is the daughter of Mark and Jane Hale. She is the youngest of three daughters and looks up to her two older sisters and brother-in-law every day. Natalie was born and raised in O’Fallon and will begin her senior year this fall at O’Fallon Township High School. She is thankful for the opportunity to run for Miss O’Fallon 2022 — the 100th anniversary and long-awaited return of the pageant after a two-year hiatus.
Natalie enjoys working at Sheridan’s Frozen Custard. She is a member of St. Nicholas Church in O’Fallon, where she sang in the youth choir and volunteered for the Luke 18 youth retreat. Natalie attended St. Clare School in O’Fallon from kindergarten to eighth grade. She was a member of St. Clare’s fifth-eight grade choir and performed in five musicals. In eighth grade, she had the amazing experience of playing Fiona in Shrek the Musical Jr.
In high school, Natalie has participated in Freshman Choir and is now entering her second year as a member of Chamber Choir. Natalie performed in last year’s Madrigals dinner as a member of the royal court, and she played the role of Teenage Anastasia in the spring musical, Anastasia. Natalie was also selected to sing in the ILMEA District Festivals and the Honors All-State Choral Festival this past year. These events gave her a passion for leadership, responsibility, and creative collaboration.
Along with choir and theater, Natalie loves to write her own music with her ukulele. She has participated in OTHS’s February Frolics for the past two years, performing her original songs. She notes that one of the greatest feelings as a songwriter is when a person tells you that your song is stuck in their head.
This past spring, Natalie was inducted into the OTHS National Honor Society. After high school, Natalie plans to attend a four-year college. She is still undecided but would like to major in either plant science or architecture with a minor in musical theater. Natalie hopes to one day have a job she loves that can make a positive impact on others.
Natalie has a few beliefs that influence her everyday life. First, she holds that every person, no matter their circumstances, has a place in the world. Second, you should listen twice as much as you speak; the best way to grow is by working together and hearing every perspective.
Finally, success is not a measure of material possessions, but a feeling you have when you make a difference in someone’s life. If Natalie Hale receives the honor of being crowned Miss O’Fallon 2022, she will use these beliefs to represent the wonderful city that raised her, the city of O’Fallon.
Kara Milner
Kara Milner, 17, is the daughter of David and Andrea Milner and Laura and Michael Marcum. She moved to O’Fallon in 2014 and since then has grown to love and adore every aspect of the beautiful community. Kara is the oldest of three girls and has six step-siblings as well. She feels very blessed to live in and serve the beautiful and versatile community of O’Fallon that has helped her to become who she is today.
Kara loves school and is ecstatic to begin her senior year at OTHS in August. At OTHS, she has a multitude of high achievements and extracurricular activities: Highest honor roll, in the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Chemistry Club and Varsity Dance Team Captain at OTHS, and has been involved in various other clubs such as Spanish Club and Key Club in her time at OTHS so far. These activities have allowed her to push herself academically and in dance, given her leadership opportunities and time management skills, and allowed her to connect with many peers and teachers to help make the school the best it can be.
Kara joined the golden girls dance team at the end of her sophomore year and was promoted to captain during her junior year. This position has taught her about what being a leader is and how to lead with kindness and compassion. In the past year that Kara competed with the golden girls, they received 11 first place awards including Southwest conference champions for the first time ever.
She was also chosen as one of the team’s two all-conference dancers and earned the first team academic award as well. She also earned the Illinois Drill Team Association (IDTA)’s Scholar Athlete award. Although she recently joined, she has loved her time on Golden Girls and looks forward to the next season and all they will accomplish.
Along with Golden Girls, Kara furthers her dance training at Dynamic Fusion Dance Center, where she has danced for eight years. She is a student under many talented teachers and choreographers and is privileged to be able to student teach under her mentors and teachers. She also teaches two classes of her own throughout the week to young girls. These classes have taught her compassion and patience and allow her to spread her passion for dance to younger generations.
If she wins Miss O’Fallon, she would love to offer all young children of O’Fallon a dance class on the weekends, as she recognizes that dance gives people of all ages confidence, determination, and increased physical fitness. She loves getting to know all her students and watch them grow in skill, confidence, and grace. She also competes with the Dynamic Fusion Dance Company at regional and national dance competitions where she gets the opportunity to be inspired by lots of talent from her studio and other studios.
Through the company, she also gets the opportunity to be a role model to the younger dancers of the company and encourage them. Kara is known for her kindness and inclusivity to the younger dancers. Dancing at this studio has taught Kara sportsmanship, leadership, resilience and creativity, as her peers and teachers inspire her each day.
When not dancing or working on schoolwork, Kara is also active in her church in various ways including her church’s nursery, children’s ministry, preteen ministry, vacation bible school, and youth group. It is in youth group where she has made some of her best friends and biggest role models. She loves serving through the church whenever the opportunity is given.
Kara is a firm believer in kindness and compassion and works to show it through all that she does. Integrity is a huge part of her morale and she hopes to encourage others to always do the right thing no matter what others see or think. She also hopes to inspire others to choose love over hate in all that they do.
She also believes that hard work and optimism are all that you need for success and she strives to be an example of that. If crowned Miss O’Fallon, Kara would be thrilled to be able to show kindness and compassion to more people of O’Fallon and have even more opportunities to work hard to serve her community.
After graduating from OTHS, Kara plans on attending college and majoring in nursing. Her end goal is to become a pediatric nurse practitioner so she is able to pursue her passion working with children and impacting their lives. She also hopes to have the opportunity to continue teaching dance.
A note from Miss O’Fallon 2019 Hannah Bennion
Hello everyone! I am Hannah Bennion and I was Miss O’Fallon 2019. I watched the pageant every single year. And then I realized, oh my gosh, this is, this is my year! And I was so nervous. I was so nervous because in high school for whatever reason we struggle with our self-worth. And we struggle with self-image and self-love.
And so these were all different things that I was battling inside of my head. There were many moments when I want to just drop out and not have to worry about it. But, I realize this is a wonderful opportunity to be able to stretch myself, get outside my comfort zone, and do something good for other people.
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 I was realizing how important it was to create relationships with people around us.
We are so used to just being friends with our circle of friends or family members. We don’t really think be outside ourselves. How many times do we sit in the waiting rooms at a doctor’s office or a hair appointment and talk with each other? We don’t do that. We are so quick to get on our phones. It’s been neat to put that aside for a second and get to know brand new people for the first time in the community, and really get to know them and ask them questions about the lessons that they have learned. That was a very special thing that I was able to learn before my 18 month mission that I am currently serving for my church.
In the last three years that I have been able to represent our beautiful town, whether actually in Illinois or outside of Illinois, I have really grown to love the people that I’ve been able to meet from all around the world. Something so important that I have learned is whether you believe in God, or many gods, or no God at all, everyone deserves to be loved and everyone deserves to receive respect freely.
It’s so important that we learn to get outside of ourselves. That’s when we feel the happiest because we are focusing on other people. We’re getting to know other people, and we’re serving them. And when we serve other people we are blessed with joy. It’s been so fascinating in the last year of my life to meet such a variety of people — children, teenagers, adults, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, government officials, hippies, homeless, and people from six of the seven continents of the world. I really feel in my heart that there is still so much good in this world.
Yes, media points out some of the struggles and trials and the evils of the world. If we allow that to consume all of our conversations and our thoughts, we will live in a world of fear. It is important to remember there are good people. The person you’re sitting next to is good. There is something that they have to share with you and you have things to share with them. It starts by putting down your phone, turning off the TV, and saying hello. Start to go out and say hello and try to help other people. Stop when people need to be assisted. When you serve you will begin to really understand your purpose and your worth. It really doesn’t come from a physical appearance. It doesn’t come from a sparkly dress and it doesn’t come from a crown. But it comes from the inside.
I am so grateful for the experiences that I have been blessed with in our community, in college, and here in Salt Lake City to meet other people and to learn and grow from them. And for the contestants running this year, just remember that a crown doesn’t define your worth, that this moment this evening does not define who you are whether you become the next Miss O’Fallon or not. The best of luck to you all. I love you O’Fallon! Thank you so much for letting me serve you.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 3:31 PM.