Monday, July 18th, 2022
Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant
It was a night of royalty
Music theater major wins Lake pageant
By Leslie Gartrell
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Grace-Ellen Rison, 18, Celina, beams after being crowned Miss Lake Festival during the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
CELINA - Grace-Ellen Rison, 18, Celina, was crowned Miss Lake Festival 2022 during Sunday night's Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools ed complex.
"I'm delighted. I am so surprised," Rison said after winning. "This is my first pageant ever… I'm so grateful."
Rison is a freshman at Western Carolina University majoring in musical theater and minoring in dance. She is the daughter of Jennifer and Jason Truesdale and Donald Rison.
Rison's social impact initiative was finite heartbeats: surviving and accepting the consequences of parental addiction. She said her father died of liver cirrhosis due to alcoholism on her 12th birthday.
"I intend to help others like me understand that their parents actions are not their fault, or their future," she said.
Rison sang "Gimme Gimme" from the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. As the overall pageant winner, she took home a $3,000 scholarship.
Rison also took home the Miss Congeniality Award, which is voted upon by the Miss Lake Festival contestants and includes a $200 scholarship, as well as the Jerry Deitsch Talent Award and its corresponding $400 scholarship.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Mackenzie Lehman, 20, Celina, won first runner-up at the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Remi' Fokine, 19, Rockford, won second runner-up at the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
Mackenzie Lehman, 20, Celina, won first runner-up and took home a $1,500 scholarship while Remi' Fokine, 19, Rockford, won second runner-up and was awarded a $1,000 scholarship.
Lehman also won the Miss Lake Festival People's Choice Award and $300 scholarship, as well as the Commitment to Excellence Award and $400 scholarship.
Also crowned on Sunday night were Zoey Aukerman, 17, Celina, as Miss Grand Lake's Outstanding Teen and Mackenzie Harmer, 15, St. Henry, Miss Lake Festival's Outstanding Teen. They each won a $150 scholarship, along with a photoshoot, hair and makeup and a gown for the photoshoot.
Rison, Aukerman and Harmer are the newest titleholders for the Miss Ohio 2023 season, and will have the chance to compete in the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program pageant in June 2023.
All non-finalists received a $400 award, and each candidate also received $200 from sponsors to cover the costs of the pageant or to be used as additional scholarship money.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Grace-Ellen Rison, center, is surrounded by other contestants after being crowned Miss Lake Festival at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Daelynne Mauch, 18, Celina, sings "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis Presley during the talent portion of the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Macey Thees, 21, Celina, shines in a sequin gown during the evening gown portion of the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
Photo by Leslie Gartrell/The Daily Standard
Morgan Rose dances to the song "Biblical" as her talent during the Miss Lake Festival Scholarship Pageant at the Celina City Schools Ed Complex on Sunday.
