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Newly crowned, 2018 Maple Leaf Queen Amber Kennebeck will reign over the 52nd annual Maple Leaf Festival and lead a royalty of 11 young people at a variety of events through the week.
The Maple Leaf Queen pageant, sponsored by Halo Salon and Missouri Southern State University was held on Sunday, Oct. 14.
Amber Kennebeck was named Maple Leaf Queen. Ms. Kennebeck is a Carthage High School student who plans to attend Columbia College Chicago and become a dance motivational therapist. She has been dancing since she was three and counts pointe and contemporary as her strongest styles.
Kennebeck said she was shocked when she heard her name called as the 2018 Queen.
“I was very surprised,” Kennebeck said after the Pageant. “I was not expecting my name to be called because I know all of the girls worked really hard and I was expecting it to be anybody, but I was not expecting it to be me.”
Kennebeck said the week of preparation leading up to Sunday’s pageant gave her and the nine other girls vying for the crown a chance to bond and get to know each other better.
“It was just a fun process getting to know each other and learn more about each other,” she said.”It was a good bonding experience for everyone within the pageant. It was a fun experience.”
The 2017 Maple Leaf Queen, Eboni Saba, helped host the event, and took her final stroll on stage as the festival monarch. She almost broke down a couple of times during that walk.
“It was really emotional,” Saba said. “The song they played was actually the song I sang my freshman year in the queen pageant, so it really took me back to all the years that I had been doing this and it was a real heart throb, but I appreciated it.”
The Queen’s Court consists of Eryn Wagoner and Aubrie Fewin. Eryn is a fan of Star Wars, Harry Potter, the Avengers, and playing Pokémon with her brother and plans to study pre-medicine at Missouri Southern. Aubrie loves tapdancing and helping with the children’s ministry at Fairview Christian Church.
Younger winners
Ages 2-14 competed in pageants earlier in the day on Sunday, Oct. 14.
Winning in the younger contestant categories were Maple Leaf Princess Breeanna Spain, Prince Isaac Spain, Little Miss Rayna Ayers, and Little Mister Logan Baker.
Pageant Organizer Trisha Swoveland said it was the first time she could remember that a sister and brother had won Maple Leaf Princess and Prince. Breanna and Isaac Spain are sister and brother.
Isaac Spain was Maple Leaf Little Mister in 2014.
Contestants ages newborns to age 24 months competed in pageants on Saturday, Oct. 13.
The winners of Saturday Maple Leaf Baby and Toddler pageants included Toddler Girl Valentina Elaine Vazquez de Saunders, Toddler Boy Brodie Nixon, Baby Girl Rosilyn Vermillion, and Baby Boy Knox Lee.
The baby pageant was sponsored by the Carthage Technical Center PN Program and the toddler pageant was sponsored by the Foundations Financial.
Organizers said the Maple Leaf royalty has become a wonderfully integral part of the Maple Leaf festival appearing at many of the week’s events as host and hostesses and will be featured in the Maple Leaf Parade this Saturday.
The 52nd annual Maple Leaf parade will be broadcast live on KSN 16-TV and rebroadcast again on Thanksgiving morning.
For more information, contact Neely at the Carthage Chamber of Commerce, 417-358-2373 or [email protected].
