Contestants shine brightly in Glass Pageant

FOSTORIA — A beloved community tradition has returned to Fostoria after a five-year hiatus. Twenty-three young women ages 5 to 18 competed in the grand return of the 28th City of Fostoria Glass Pageant on June 14 at the Wainwright Performing Arts Center at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School — representing the city by taking part in different activities and events. "Our biggest rebrand was focusing on empowering young women and strengthening our community," committee member Maddie Stearns said, "We didn't want it to be like a beauty contest. This year, we really focused on community involvement and leadership, really representing Fostoria." The last Glass Pageant was held in 2019; due to COVID-19, the pageant has been on hold since. This year, the committee reviewed previous competitions and updated the structure to best align with its renewed mission. These changes included scorecards, contestant bios, community-related questions and removing the traditional pageantry elements. Contestants were judged based on traits such as self-confidence, communication, civic engagement, grooming and poise. Contestants competed in different age brackets: Wee Glass Princess (ages 5 and 6), Little Glass Princess (ages 7 through 9), Petite Glass Princess (ages 10 through 12), Glass Princess (ages 13 through 15) and Queen (ages 16 through 18). The competition was judged by Megan James, Dionna Brennaman and 2024 Snow Queen Sue Echelberry. The 2025 Glass Pageant Court includes the following: • Glass Queen – Evelyn Guernsey • Glass Princess – Cora Sheeks • Petite Glass Princess – Staysha Watkins • Little Glass Princess – Journee Craddolph-Settles • Wee Glass Princess – Mahleigh Dukes "Seeing everybody working together and to see how happy the other girls were for their friends and competitors when they won, that was really nice to see," Stearns said. The young women received a crown, sash, silk flower bouquet and the opportunity to represent Fostoria at local events, community functions and parades. All contestants received a gift bag for competing. "It's about a lot more than a crown and a sash," Stearns said. "Even if you don't win, you get a lot of experience. I think a lot of these girls will come back next year because they gain a lot of confidence." Contestants in the youngest two categories focused strictly on modeling while the master of ceremonies, Christina Williams from 13ABC, read their biographical information. "I loved the youngest age category," Stearns said. "I think they're at the age where they're not old enough to be shy yet, so they really just went out there and set the stage for everybody and they were so confident and so funny." Contestants in the Petite Glass and Glass Princess competitions were asked to answer one randomly selected question drawn from a bowl. "They were all based on community like, 'If you could start a program in your community, what would it be and how would it benefit everybody?' Or, 'What's your favorite part about Fostoria and why?' They were all very community-centered," Stearns said. Older contestants in the Queen competition were assigned a speech topic one week in advance, focusing on service and leadership in the community. "I think a lot of people are concerned about what Fostoria has to offer for our youth, and this is something we can add to that list that the city's providing for the youth to get involved and into the public," Stearns said. "That's what this is all about. We want to get younger children involved and learn about Fostoria and what makes us such a tight-knit community." Members of the 2019 court returned to assist with rehearsal and offer guidance to contestants as well as crown this year's court. "We had four out of five of our 2019 court present. Three of them helped crown and sash the 2025 winners," Stearns said. Local businesses in the community also came together to sponsor the event and donate supplies. Major sponsors included •Reinhart Auto Body & Bowling Transportation - City Gold level donations •Mary Kay by Kristen Velasquez - Donated makeup for contestant gift bags •Beyond Laser Creations - Created winner sashes •Scanner Media - Provided event photography •Flowerland - Designed silk bouquets Following this year's successful comeback, Stearns said she hopes the Glass Pageant continues to grow and possibly even include a baby category in the coming years. "I hope it keeps going and I hope it gets a little bit bigger," Stearns said. "I was actually pretty pleased that we had 23 contestants for the first time bringing it back since 2019. Now that we've brought it back to life, I hope more girls hear about it and when to get involved."