Lewis County Women Finish in Top 5 at Miss Washington
Runner Ups: Miss Lewis County Bailey Peters, Miss Northwest Alexandria Fairall Get Third and Fourth Place
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Posted: Thursday, July 7, 2016 10:30 am
Lewis County was well represented at the Miss Washington Pageant with two young women taking the stage to represent their communities.
Although both left without the crown, they finished within the top five and gained scholarship money to further their educations.
Miss Lewis County Bailey Peters and Miss Northwest Alexandria Fairall both competed in the Miss Washington Pageant last week, placing third and fourth respectively.
The duo have known each other since the Miss Lewis County Pageant where Fairall was the first runner-up to Peters. Later, Fairall relinquished that title to compete in a sweeper pageant, where she was crowned Miss Northwest.
Along with the second runner-up title, Peters received the People’s Choice Award.
“It was kind of a crazy rush,” Peters said of her experience at the pageant. “There’s a lot of buildup of excitement and I was just happy to be there and to represent Lewis County.”
In all, she left with almost $3,000 in scholarship funds that she plans to use as she obtains her doctorate at Washington State University, Vancouver.
Peters recently was awarded the presidential scholarship at the college, and her first two years of schooling are already paid for without dipping into the scholarship funds from the pageants.
She plans to use the pageant scholarship money she received from both Miss Washington and Miss Lewis County for fees and books.
“Using that scholarship money will definitely be a help,” she said, adding she is grateful. “That’s so much money.”
Both girls said the competition helped them become more self confident and self aware. They also spoke about the friendships they gained throughout the experience.
“Only 21 girls will understand our experiences. It’s a special and unique thing for us,” Peters said. “I think that in itself is a very special part of the process.”
Fairall was awarded the Patriotism Reigns scholarship, along with her third runner-up title. She also won the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown rounds. She took home $5,000 in scholarship money, which she will use to further her education at Centralia College.
She is working on obtaining her nursing degree and wants to later go into hospital management.
“I’m very proud to only be 18 and have the honor of standing up there with the top five girls in Washington,” she said.
Fairall, who will be the student body president at Centralia College next year, said most of her duties as Miss Northwest have now been completed.
Right now she is deciding on whether she wants to get back onto the circuit to compete in more pageants in 2017, or to take a year off. Regardless of her decision, she said she does plan to compete in future pageants.
“It was such an incredible experience. I felt myself grow in leaps and bounds and I really feel I learn and grow every time I compete,” she said. “... The Miss America Organization is really empowering women and every girl there is just so extraordinary.”
For Peters, she said the pageant gave her the best of both worlds.
“I was so close to being Miss Washington and I received scholarship dollars, but at the same time I get to come home and be Miss Lewis County, which is important to me,” she said.
Competing with a fellow Lewis County resident, Peters said it speaks volumes about the Miss Lewis County Program and the opportunities it opens for young women.
“You really can see the girls had a strong foundation,” she said. “Hopefully a lot more girls will compete and can see the opportunity it can open through running for a pageant.”
Fairall shared the same sentiments and said it was nice to have Peters by her side, which brought back many memories from the Miss Lewis County Pageant.
“Although we are competing, we know each other really well and I know we are going to do great things in the world,” she said.
For Peters, it’s back to business as usual for the Lewis County representative. She participated in three different community events on Monday, and is excited to continue her journey as Miss Lewis County.
“There’s no sadness in me for not getting Miss Washington. While that would be a great honor, I’m so excited to come back and be apart of the community festivals, the fair, and so many wonderful events,” she said.
Miss Clark County Alicia Cooper was the overall winner of the Miss Washington pageant, which took place Friday and Saturday in Burien.
http://www.chronline.com/lewis-county-women-finish-in-top-at-miss-washington/article_7d12d970-4468-11e6-bc4e-cf7045e1c9e8.html
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