BRADFORD – Fifteen young ladies took the stage on Wednesday evening to compete in the Bradford Pumpkin Show’s Miss Pumpkin Queen contest. The contest was one of the toughest in recent years and a tie-breaker was needed to find out who would wear the crown for 2019.
At the end of the evening it was Brooke Turner, a senior at Newton High School, wearing the crown. Kendall Hill was named first runner-up. Hill is a junior at Bradford High School. The second runner-up for 2019 is Jillian Thomas. Thomas is a senior at Miami Valley Career Technology Center and Brookville High School. Voted Miss Congeniality by the other contestants was Alexus Booker, a senior at Russia High School. She also earned Miss Photogenic. Andrea Monnin, a senior at Russia High School, won for best dressed.
After earning the crown Turner said, “I can’t believe it. I know my best friend would be so proud of me. She is a pageant queen and she’d be encouraging me. I know she’s not with me, but she’s on my shoes right now.” She said she did the Bradford Pumpkin Show to get out of her comfort zone, but didn’t expect to win. “I was pretty nervous coming in,” she said. “I didn’t expect to end up where I am in right now.” Turner plans to become a nail technician after high school. She also wants to be a motivational speaker and a professional bull rider.
Contestants had a private interview earlier in the day, which helped determine the top 10. The final determination was to answer a question in front of the judges from the main stage with hundreds of people watching. The question that helped push Turner into the top 10 was “If you don’t win, who would you like to see win?” Her answer was “someone inspiring.”
In addition to Turner and her runners-up, the top 10 also included Kassandra Luna, Taylor Richards-Munn, Andrea Monnin, Kareena Broski, Skyler Unger, Tristin Booker, and Addyson Halcomb. Their question was “What is one thing you learned about yourself from competing in this contest?” The most popular answer was that the contestant was more confident than they thought.
The top 10 question usually determines the winner and the court, but because competition was tough this year, there was a tie after the round and the top 10 was narrowed to the top five. In addition to Turner, Hill and Thomas, the top five included Halcomb and Monnin. Their question was, “What does inner beauty mean to you?”
Additional contestants were Micah Delk, Trinity Miller, Maddie Peck, and Maleigha McHugh.
