Tuesday, July 25th, 2017
Hellwarth to reign over lake festival
Post runner-up in pageant
By Sydney Albert
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Newly crowned 2017 Miss Lake Festival Clista Hellwarth, Celina, waves to the crowd at Monday night's scholarship pageant. She also won the interview award.
CELINA - Celina native Clista Hellwarth was crowned 2017 Miss Lake Festival at Monday night's scholarship pageant competition.
Hellwarth, 18, shared the stage at Celina City Schools' Education Complex with seven other contestants. Four outstanding teen contestants also took the stage.
Hellwarth is the daughter of Judy and Garrett Hellwarth and will be a freshman at the University of St. Francis in the upcoming school year. As the winner, she received a $4,000 scholarship. For her talent, she sang and played piano on "Killing me Softly."
The contestants participated in a private interview prior to the program and an onstage interview, during which the ladies answered two questions about their opinions, interests and aspirations.
Hellwarth's platform was "Agricultural Awareness: Feeding the World." When asked to name one of the greatest accomplishments of American agriculture, Hellwarth responded helping to feed the ever-growing world population of more than 7 billion people, especially as the number of farmers has declined.
Hellwarth won the interview award, receiving an additional $500 scholarship.
In the evening wear portion, Hellwarth wore a dazzling sequined black and gold strapless dress.
Runner-up and winner of a $2,000 scholarship was Riley Post, 18, of St. Henry. She won the talent award and an additional $500 scholarship by performing the vocal comedy "I Really, Really Love You," and winning plenty of laughs from the audience and judges.
She is the daughter of Ronald and Sandra Post and her platform was "The Ultimate Gift." During the evening wear portion, her form-fitting red dress sparkled under the stage lights.
Contestant Kelsey Swann, 18, was named the second runner-up, winning a $1,500 scholarship. Swann is the daughter of Debra Heckler-Swann and Kenneth Swann. Her platform was "Love Yourself."
Alayna Webb, 19, won the People's Choice Award, which comes with a $200 scholarship, and the Commitment to Excellence Award, which comes with a $500 scholarship. She is the daughter of Alesha Billger and Roland Crouch.
Other contestants included Autumn Brehm, 21, of Celina; Patricia Dennis, 18, of Celina; Hope Gossard, 19, of Wapakoneta; and Kennedy Swann, 20, of Celina. All contestants received a $500 scholarship and a $500 scholarship for Wright State University.
Miss Lake Festival 2016 Hanna Tumbusch and 2016 outstanding teen Alexis Heath gave various performances throughout the evening and assisted co-host the event with Tom Hendricks.
Hellwarth will reign over the annual Celina Lake Festival, which begins Friday. She is eligible to compete in next year's Miss Ohio competition, which is part of the Miss America pageant.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Autumn Brehm.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Patricia Dennis.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Hope Gossard.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Clista Hellwarth. Hellwarth won the crown.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Riley Post.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Kelsey Swann.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Kennedy Swann.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
2017 Miss Lake Festival pageant contestant Alayna Webb.
