ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The Southwest Community Fiesta is rapidly approaching, and one of the big events that weekend will be the accompanying pageant, which is currently seeking contestants.
The Southwest Community Fiesta Pageant will be at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, and coordinators are looking for contestants for three categories: the Little Miss (ages 5 through 11), Teen (ages 13 through 17), and Miss (ages 18 through 30).
“One of the main goals of the pageant, and one of the reasons we started it back up again, was to provide an opportunity for local young ladies to get involved in the community,” coordinator Clarissa Carrillo said. “And as I always say, you do NOT have to have previous pageant experience in order to compete. We want to provide that first step that will help them get involved and get a taste of what it's actually like to participate in a pageant – if you've never been in a pageant, that's fine, and if you've competed in other pageants before and want to hone your skills, that's also great, because we want this to be as open as possible. Pageants like this also greatly help with personal confidence and skills like public speaking, which I know makes a lot of people nervous. Last year, we had some contestants who didn't have very much confidence in their public speaking, but when the pageant came around, they did great, and it was amazing seeing them come out of their shells. We'll be taking contestant sign-ups until mid-August, which will allow everyone to prepare and get all the paperwork and everything else ready, and we'll also have a couple workshops for the girls. Contestants can sign up online or get in touch with me at (620) 417-4043, and I'll be happy to help get them signed up. We would like to have no more than 10 participants per category so we can keep things moving along, but if we have a big number of parents who want to sign their girls up, we can bump it up to 15, but that would be THE limit.”
Carrillo and current queen Alana King offered encouragement for young ladies in the community to sign up.
“I would just say put yourself out there and try something new. Nowadays, there's so much pressure on teens and young adults in terms of body image and looks and social media following and all of that,” King said. “Especially for young girls, that can make them feel really down about themselves and not confident in who they are, and it's just really rough for them because they're trying to be what the media tells them they should be. Because of all of that pressure, young girls are hesitant to try new things, and I think this is a great way to encourage them to set those thoughts aside and do something fun and something they want to do. Be excited to try new things, and don't let other people put you down.”
“And I know for a lot of young girls, they hear the word 'pageant' and immediately think 'I'm not pageant material,' so they're almost discouraging themselves,” Carrillo said. “But pageants are more than just putting on heels and makeup and looking pretty, there's so much personal growth that happens, and the girls get to hone so many life skills while they're preparing for the pageant like public speaking and interview skills. It's about putting aside your fear and doing something for yourself. Even though we can communicate faster and easier through social media nowadays, there's also that image of perfection we all try to live up to because of what they see on their friends' pages, and that's a really rough rabbit hole to go down, no matter what age you are.”
Carrillo and King added there is a lot to be excited about with this year’s pageant.
“I'm just excited to see who ends up signing up, I can't wait to see everyone,” King said. “I think everything will go really well and be really fun. Clarissa's such a good leader, and she always has been, because she's been through all of this before and knows how everything is supposed to run. She makes sure everyone gets taken care of and makes sure everything goes how it's supposed to.”
“I'm especially excited to see the little ones, they're always so much fun to watch because they're so full of energy and happiness, and they always have a good time,” Carrillo added. “That's the age group where everyone just really goes for it, and I think that's how it should be all around, because everyone should have a good time. From the coordinating standpoint, I want the pageant to go well because again, we want this to be an opportunity for these girls to get involved in the community and practice some of those life skills they might not really realize they need. These pageants are all about these girls doing something for themselves and really just enjoying the moment. We'll definitely be talking about this on our social media pages, and we'll also be talking with other local media to let people know we're looking for contestants. We'll also be having some direct conversations with young ladies in town we think might be interested and have some of that one-on-one time with them. And we don't mind doing those one-on-one conversations because we can help dispel some of those anxieties and help those girls realize they don't have to overthink everything and just have some fun. And if anyone has any questions, they are more than welcome to get in touch with me and I'll be happy to help.”
King said she has enjoyed having the title this past year.
“I've really enjoyed being that role model for people in town. Like I talked about earlier, there's that image we're told we have to conform to on social media, and I've been asked by multiple girls 'What made you have the courage to go out and do things like this?'” King said. “I'm glad to be able to talk to younger girls and share my story and talk to them about having confidence in themselves to do what they want. And they're the next generation, so we need them to step into those other major roles in the community. I've really enjoyed going to all the different community events like the parades and big events like that. And when I'm in my sash, it's a great opportunity for me to talk to other young girls about potentially doing pageants themselves and talk to them about my own experiences, and it's just all been really fun.”
Overall, Carrillo said, she is excited to see how this year’s pageant ends up.
“Like every year, this pageant is open to everyone. Even though the pageant is part of our Southwest Community Fiesta, it's not limited to the Latino community – we want this to be a great experience for all girls in town,” Carrillo said. “And we would also love to see some entries from towns in the surrounding area – I know a lot of pageants take place in the bigger cities that can require a long drive, but we'd love to see contestants from some of the surrounding towns so they can have that opportunity right in Southwest Kansas. And the great thing is the girls are always so encouraging and supportive of one another, there aren't really any rivalries like what you might see in the movies and on TV. If this is something you want to do, I say go for it.”
