First Attendant Chelsea Conn
Queen Karlee Wooten
Second Attendant Maggie Mancini
(From Left to Right)

By TRISH BENNETT
The Herald

The smiling faces of 143 first-graders brightened the Main Street stage Wednesday during the Little Miss Pumpkin Show competition.

Proud parents and family members screamed and applauded as the girls paraded before a panel of four judges. Some wore frills and lace befitting the most beautiful porcelain doll. Others chose a sophisticated 'woman-about-town' appearance. And in the end, the judges admitted to a difficult choice in narrowing down the three finalists.

Karlee Wooten, a first-grader at Atwater Elementary School in Circleville, was selected as this year's Little Miss Pumpkin Show.

"I was excited," Wooten said about hearing her name called as the winner. She wore a skirt and sweater ensemble with an autumn theme.

With her bright eyes and blonde curls she seemed a natural for the spotlight, but as a 7-year-old she also had other things on her mind.

"I want to ride the rides," said Wooten, who seemed to take the hectic day in stride. She said she wasn't nervous about the competition, but she did hope she would win.

Wooten was sponsored by Ivan McNeal Flooring Center in Circleville.

Chelsea Conn, a first-grader from Scioto Elementary School in the Teays Valley district, won the title of first attendant. She wore a frilly dress of red velvet and white lace.

Conn's bright smile was surpassed only by her exitement while awaiting the final judging.

"I can't wait to find out who wins," she said, her feet swinging with nervous energy as she sat waiting for the results.

Conn said she was very happy about winning the first attendant title, and she was also looking forward to trying out the rides.

Maggie Mancini, a first-grader from Atwater Elementary School in Circleville, was chosen as second attendant. She wore a long skirt and knit shawl in autumn colors.

"I was proud," Mancini said upon hearing the news she was chosen as second attendant.

Mancini's long curls and delicate features gave her an appearance of shyness, but she said her favorite part of the day was being able to come up on stage during the judging.

The 143 girls were brought before the judges in groups of 10. One girl was selected from each group to determine the first set of finalists. The judges then selected six of the remaining girls as the second set of finalists, going through the process again of choosing one girl from each group of five.

In addition to the three winners, the six ultimate finalists included MaKenzie Davidson from Saltcreek Elementary, Kendra Dray from Atwater Elementary, and Katelyn Cline from Darby Elementary.

The winners were presented their tiaras by last year's queen and her court. Rebecca Maddox was Little Miss Pumpkin Show for 1999. Emily Selin served as first attendant, and Taylor Kerschner was second attendant.

Even the girls who did not make the finalist group were happy to be part of the competition. Nearly all the contestants were looking forward to trying out the rides at the show after the judging. And the vast majority agreed the most fun part of their day was getting to ride on the front of the car during the afternoon parade.

The judges for the Little Miss Pumpkin Show contest were Mona Thiel of Business First in Columbus, Jordance Mikarevski of Clear Channel 94.3 in Chillicothe, Rosie DeFillippo of Time Warner Communications in Lancaster, and Jeff Gold of the Newark Advocate in Newark.

All four agreed judging the contest was very difficult.

"It's hard to look at all those beautiful faces and just pick one," said Mikarevski.

Thiel echoed the sentiment. "It's so hard," she said. "They're all so cute. I just wanted to say, 'You're all winners.'"

The competition was sponsored by the Circleville Jaycees. Prizes for the winners were donated by McDonald's, As We Grow, Village Curiosity Shop, Lindsey Bake Shop, Wittich's Candy Shop, Elsea Inc., Designs by Donna, Blocks Shoe Store, Giovanni's Pizza, Fitzpatrick's Printery and Photo Express. The judges car was supplied by Harden Chevrolet.