CHANNAHON — A group of 12 young girls rocked, recited and performed their hearts out in the Little Miss Channahon Contest during the Three Rivers Festival Thursday night.
The theme was Beauty on the Beach, and together they danced and sang a choreographed routine to “Rock Hula Baby” and “Lahaina,” which they had practiced together in the weeks before the contest.
Former Little Miss Channahon 2008 returned to lend a hand and read the girls’ biographies. Each contestant modeled her favorite summer outfit and then answered an impromptu question to earn points. They were judged on poise, personality and confidence, said show coordinator, Dawn Daniels.
Outgoing Little Miss Channahon Aria Sansone performed a gymnastics and dance routine before helping to crown her successor.
As the judges tallied points, the girls, ages 6 through 8, anxiously awaited the results. Some took the opportunity to get in a last-minute parade wave to the audience, while others fidgeted nervously.
When the results were final, cheers came loudly from the crowd.
The new Little Miss Channahon, Anna McClimon, accepted the crown from Aria with a big, beautiful, ear-to-ear grin.
Her first thought when she heard her name called as the winner was, “Oh. My. God,” she said in a phone interview the next morning.
Anna was last year’s second runner-up in the contest, so she worked extra hard practicing her dance routine this year. The hard work paid off.
“She’s been looking forward to this since last year,” said her mother, Diane McClimon.
Runners up are Addison Otto, first; Sadie Barker, second; and Destiny Clower, third.
Clower also received an award for the best art project, a beach bag each girl decorated herself beforehand.
Each contestant won a bag of prizes from a long list of local business sponsors.
Little Miss Channahon and her court will ride in the Three Rivers Festival parade on Sunday as their first assignment representing the village of Channahon.
Anna has already decided on the outfit she will wear in the parade, and said she will definitely be smiling and waving to the crowds.
The girls will also represent the village during other events over the next year, including the village picnic, the Memorial Day ceremony, Christmas tree lighting and at Winter Wonderland at the Channahon Park District.
Participating in the contest was a lot of fun, Anna said.
“I thought (the other girls) did really well, too,” she added.
At first, Anna’s favorite part of the contest was performing the dance routine, she said. Little did she know the best was yet to come.
“When they called first runner-up, I thought, ‘This is the bad part,’” she said, thinking she had lost.
And then came the defining moment that became her favorite part of the night — “When I heard my name called,” she said, with a big, beautiful smile that could be heard through the phone.
