By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Eleven young ladies and two young men took the stage on Wednesday, July 26 to kick of the contests to determine who will reign over the 2023 Annie Oakley Festival. The Little Mister Buffalo Bill and Little Miss Annie Oakley contests featured a bunch of youngsters that could make you smile or melt your heart.

The contests were organized by the 2022 Miss Annie Oakley Madison Werner and Annie Oakley Festival Committee member Marla Werner.

Madison welcomed each kid to the stage and asked them a series of questions like what’s your name, how old are you, what is your favorite thing to do and what do you want to be when you grow up? Of course, almost every kid said they liked to play, but some of the answers for what do you want to be when you grow up were entertaining. One young lady said she wanted to be a purple unicorn. A couple others said they wanted to be scientists and one child said, “I want to grow up.”

The judges had their work cut out for them. A couple of the judges recently went through the same kind of questioning. Andrew Wuebker and Elizabeth Brewer, the reigning Darke County Junior Fair King and Queen, were joined by Laura Ahrens, fair manager, to make the decision. Choosing the winners was difficult and came down to a tie breaking question in the Little Miss Annie Oakley contest to determine who would take home a trophy.

Earning the top prizes were Tesla Buccella and Sullivan Cover. Earning first runners-up were Ruby Rice and Leo Duke. Taking home the prize for Most Photogenic was Piper Arnold.

Additional contestants taking the stage were Vivian Post, Tayla Reeser, Traeh Reeser, Tylee Reeser, Jesslee Woodward, Grace Schaaf, Stella Miller, and Elizabeth Corbin

Wuebker and Brewer helped present the trophies to the winners.

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].