Heather Latter
Ashley Croswell’s dream came true Thursday night when she was crowned the 2013 Emo Fair queen.
“I’ve always wanted to be the Emo Fair queen,” enthused the 15-year-old just minutes after receiving the crown from last year’s queen, Destiny Woolsey.
“It feels so awesome,” she added. “It was a total surprise.”
The four girls vying for this year’s title were judged on their banners, interview, parade float, fashion show, and the entertainment portion.
“The girls all worked so hard,” said pageant organizer Sis McCormick. “They were excellent and so helpful to one another, which was nice to see.
“They did a wonderful job.”
Madison Allan was crowned First Princess and Hailey Wirtz as Second Princess while Croswell also was named Miss Congeniality (as voted on by her fellow contestants).
Allan, meanwhile, also captured the Dorothy Bonot Memorial Award for leadership and a willingness to help others.
Before the crowning, the four contestants performed their entertainment routines before a full room upstairs at the Emo Arena.
Allan was first with her rendition of “Jake the Peg,” where she donned a third “leg” and did a dance dressed as a man.
Croswell then took to the stage with two friends and did a dance number to a medley of hit tunes.
The unique factor of the routine was that the three were dressed in black (and the lights were turned off), with glow sticks depicting stick figures and their bodies.
Wirtz then danced with her friend, Maighyn Degagne, to the song “Clarity” while Kaitlyn Cottam presented an upbeat dance where her arms acted as “legs” and her friend, Taylor Pelepetz, was the arms.
While the judges tallied up the scores, Woolsey reviewed her past year, thanking her friends and family for all their support.
She talked about all the community events she had attended, such as the “Holly Daze” parade in Emo, where she and Second Princess Karly Caul walked along handing out candy to the children.
“I had a year full of events,” Woolsey remarked. “There’s no better way I would have spent it.”
She added the pageant is a lot of work but also a lot of fun. And she was happy to hold her title alongside two of her best friends, Jillian Gustafson and Caul.
“I would like to congratulate this year’s contestants for all the work they did this summer,” Woolsey said.
“Your ideas—amazing. Your banners—beautiful,” she lauded. “Your floats are awesome and your talents were just the cherry on top of everything.
“You girls did a fantastic job and I can’t wait for the next set of royalty to have an awesome year like I did,” she enthused.
Croswell admitted the competition was a lot of work.
“I started thinking about it as soon as school ended,” she admitted, though adding all the hard work was worth it.
“I didn’t know the other girls when we started and now they are my friends, so I want to say thank you to them,” she said.
Croswell also encouraged other girls to consider signing up to take part in the pageant.
“It’s a really great experience,” she stressed, noting it’s open to girls aged 15-17.
Prior to Croswell being crowned, eight girls and two boys took to the stage eager to capture the title of the 2013 Mini-Queen and Mini-King.
Woolsey asked the youngsters questions, such as where they go to school and what they like to do.
A surprising number of the girls said they liked catching butterflies.
But it was Jonathan Gray, six, of Fort Frances and Sienna Tom, three, of Stratton who earned the crowns.
In the queen competition, the various category winners were as follows:
•Banners—1. Madison Allan 2. Hailey Wirtz 3. Ashley Croswell;
•Interviews—1. Ashley Croswell 2. Madison Allan 3. Kaitlyn Cottam;
•Fashion show—1. Ashley Croswell 2. Madison Allan 3. Kaitlyn Cottam;
•Floats—1. Ashley Croswell 2. Madison Allan 3. Hailey Wirtz; and
•Entertainment—1. Hailey Wirtz 2. Ashley Croswell 3. Madison Allan
