The smells of horse manure and corn dogs perfume the air as peals of laughter and delight tickle the ear, claiming their positions as prominent memories of the Bois d’ Arc Bash.
The laughter and squeals of children were definitely heard in the Fellowship Hall of the First Baptist Church where the youth pageant took place.
There were representatives from Commerce, Sulphur Springs, Greenville, Brashear, Little Elm, Point and Grand Prairie.
The event was sponsored by the Commerce Chamber of Commerce and organized by Tylene Gearheart.
The judges, Megan Smith, Sarah Heatherly and Renee Tolly, all of Chi Omega, were there early to watch as participants practiced promenading around the stage and parents frantically tended to some last minute primping.
“It’s part of our philanthropy,” Smith said. “We think it’s fun, seeing the kids all dressed up.”
Everyone was dressed to the hilt in their Sunday best, with some flashier than others.
The first part of the competition, for children ages infants to three years old, began at noon, and the second part, for children 4-18 years old, began at 2 p.m.
There were quite a few contestants in the lower age groups.
Girls ages 0-23 months duked-it-out for Baby Miss while the boys fought to be Baby Master.
After tottering around the stage it was declared that the first runner-up for Baby Miss was Morgan Bowen and the winner was Alexandria High.
The Baby Master runner-up was Nolan Hall and Devin Branch was the winner.
Both classes’ parents took their trophies, quite large for such small champions, while the other competitors received participation trophies.
Next up were the Tiny Miss and Tiny Master competitions for ages 2-3. These participants had a little more spunk and needed less help crossing the stage. They twirled and stomped and in the end Carly Spinato became runner-up for Tiny Miss and Makanna Ward became the winner. The Tiny Master runner-up was Brayden Hamm and the winner was Jaxon Speulda.
It began with the Wee Miss contest, which featured girls from 4-6 years old. The runner-up was Jacey Brown and the winner was Jade Gibson.
Boys ages 4-6 competed to be Wee Master. The runner-up was Chance Thornton. Bryan Flanagan, age 4, placed first.
“He likes performing and to be in front of people,” Jennifer Flanagan, Bryan’s mother, said. “I wanted to give him the opportunity.”
Chance Thornton’s sister Bailey, age 8, showed her stuff as she took the title of Mini-Miss. The runner-up in the category for 7-9 year-old girls was Kailee Busby.
In the Junior Miss contest for girls ages 10-12, Sarah Dickinson placed second and Paisley Young was first.
“My sister did a lot of beauty pageants, so I wanted to start,” Paisley said. “It’s fun.”
The lone entrant in the Senior Miss category was 17-year-old Crystal Cruz.
“This is my senior year of high school and I thought it would be fun,” Crystal said. “I always wanted to try it. I thought there’d be more competition.”
Those who were lucky enough to win first or second place didn’t seem to mind.
“It was fun,” Kayla Greenway, who participated in the Tiny Miss competition, said.
All those who didn’t place were given trophies for participating. No one left empty-handed and almost everyone left the church smiling. ?