MOUNT VERNON – Lucy Maleszewski was patient – just about as patient as a 7-year-old can be – while awaiting her time in the spotlight on Sunday afternoon.
Of the 15 contestants for Little Miss Knox County lined up on the Midway Stage, she sat in the last chair. She watched calmly as her competitors completed the interview portion. One by one, they approached the microphone, and Maleszewski remained unphased – arms crossed, eyes forward, blue ribbon tucked tightly into her brown-black hair.
They’d have to go through her first.
Maleszewski’s stellar podium performance won the day on Sunday, as she was crowned Little Miss Knox County by three local judges. The Centerburg native impressed the judges with her ambition; during her interview, Maleszewski said she wants to be a gymnast when she grows up, just like her idols, USA Olympic medalists Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles.
Maleszewski smiled proudly as last year’s winner, Piper Shinabery of Mount Vernon, placed the tiara on her head.
According to Bobbi Maleszewski, Lucy’s mother, competing in Knox County Fair pageantry contests is a family tradition. Bobbi won Little Miss Knox County when she was 5 years old and went on to win Junior Fair Queen in 1991.
Bobbi didn’t push Lucy to participate. But when Lucy saw pictures at her grandparents’ house of her mother competing, she wanted badly to give it a try.
“She wanted to follow in the footsteps,” said Bobbi, a fifth grade teacher at Utica Elementary. “So when the flyers came out, she kept asking me every day, ‘Do you have that? Did you get the flyer?'”
Lucy rose to the top of a competitive field Sunday. She edged out runner-up Raylee Borchers, of Fredericktown (she sorts her piggy bank money into three categories: “spend, give and save”); second runner-up McKenna May, of Howard (she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, so that she can work with bunnies); and third runner-up Alice Ruckman, of Mount Vernon (she spoke fondly of her baby sister and said she wants to be a mother when she grows up).
The annual competition is open to any girl who lives in Knox County and is 7 years old as of Jan. 1. All 15 applicants had the opportunity to answer questions in front of a large crowd on Sunday; most pertained to the subject’s family, interests (both in and out of school) and future goals. Contestants were judged on their poise and appearance during the interview process.
“They’re just kind of looking for the best overall package,” said Sami Conant, the Knox County native who emceed the event.
When she got her turn on the stage, Lucy Maleszewski was quick and confident in her answers. Her favorite subject at Columbia Elementary? Reading. Her favorite food? Pizza. Something everyone should know about her dog, Tucker? “He likes his stomach being rubbed.”
The future is bright for Lucy. She loves to read, her mother said, and she has “about 148 books in her bed at any given time.” She recently made the U9 Sting girls soccer team, alongside two of her best friends, and she also participates in gymnastics.
“She loves to dress up and be girly,” Bobbi Maleszewski said, “but she also likes to go outside and just sort of dig around and be a boy at the same time.”
This week, she’ll wear her tiara around the fair. Her 10-year-old brother, Noah, is showing turkeys, but her mother said “she’ll have nothing to do with them.” Lucy prefers following the king and queen around the fairgrounds, scarfing down stromboli and riding her favorite ride, the Dizzy Dog.
It’ll be a proud week for Lucy, and an equally proud week for her mother. In the Maleszewski family, the tiara is more than just an accessory – it symbolizes a legacy.
Now, that legacy runs two generations deep.
