Swiss Miss 2010

Saturday was our annual Midway Swiss Miss Pageant. Our town is steeped in a rich heritage of the Swiss who founded it. They chose to settle here because of the beauty of the valley which is surrounded by the mountains, resembling their homeland. Throughout our town you will see Swiss inspired chalet type homes and our buildings are also reminiscent of those you might see in the Swiss Alps.

So our Swiss Miss pageant is held once a year and girls who are ages 10-12 may participate. I hate to use the word pageant because I know it conjures up images of little girls parading around trying to look like they are 21! But this one is SO different. They are judged on Talent, Personality (through a one-on-one interview with the judges) and Modeling...no make-up, no expensive costumes, just their natural inner beauty. This year we had exceptional talent, the girls were all darling and the judges even said to me that it was going to be a difficult choice.

There are 5 girls selected: One Swiss Miss and four Attendants (in no particular order). They will have the time of their lives as they participate in parades and events around the state and most importantly, perform community service, not only here in Midway, but wherever they are needed. They work hard but have a great time doing it.

The show opened with a production number involving all of the girls. Our theme this year was "Sweet Dreams" so they came out in matching pajamas and sang and danced together. Then we moved on to the talent portion and every one of them did awesome! I was so proud of them. They are all provided with a Swiss dress that they model. This is an opportunity for the judges to see their poise. I worked with them on how to walk like a 10-12 year old, reminding a few that they are NOT supermodels, and to just walk slowly, with a big smile, standing up straight and maintaining eye contact with the audience. They did GREAT.

We had Barbara Smith as our emcee, one of our local Salt Lake City ABC News anchors (she grew up in Midway) and she was a hit! She surprised us all by doing an impromptu dance with one of our entertainers and brought the house down!

So my point in sharing this with you is to let you know that there is still a place where we embrace the natural beauty of youth. In a world where little girls are growing up way too fast, there is still a place where we encourage young girls to embrace their youth, find their inner beauty and get involved with their community performing not only songs and dance, but service and learning about the joy to be found in doing so. They learn to be ambassadors at a young age in representing old-fashioned values that have somehow become lost in many ways. They embrace being a young girl!

Last years "Royality"...

I am proud to be associated with such a wonderful event. These girls are beautiful inside and out. They are an example of purity and innocence that we can all learn from no matter what our age.

This year's Royalty (holding a trophy and flowers)