Beautiful competition

On Saturday, I attended the Barry County Queen Pageant, which was held at the Crowder College Cassville Center. Although this year's pageant only drew around a dozen contestants, I was impressed by the professionalism with which the pageant was conducted.

Several of the young ladies sang, danced and performed their way through the talent portion of the pageant, which I know took a lot of courage. The contestants also donned beautiful ball gowns and answered several interview questions during the contest.

In the end, three young ladies were awarded the titles of Barry County Queen, Barry County Princess and Barry County Little Princess. These girls will represent our local youth at the Barry County Fair at the end of the month. Barry County Queen Shelby Davidson will also compete in the Missouri State Fair Pageant this summer.

Although there could only be three pageant winners (and a talent winner), all of these young ladies are winners in my eyes. By competing in this year's contest they accomplished something that many youth never will. They pushed past a fear of public speaking and performing. I hope they continue to reach for their dreams and work to achieve whatever their hearts desire. The future is bright for each of these young women.