Hardwick is Miss Washington County Teen 2019

By: 
Staff Writer Kate Wehlann

People's Choice winner and 1st runner-up Bailey Leis, Miss Washington County Teen Bailey Hardwick, second runner-up Tara Coats and third runner-up GraciBelle Fleener pose for a photo after the Miss Washington Teen pageant Friday evening.

Bailey Hardwick, 13, Salem, didn’t expect to win the Miss Washington County Teen crown Friday night.

It was her first pageant and she said she didn’t enter with her eye on the prize.

“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and handle my anxiety,” she said. “I just came out for the fun of it.”

She’s spent most of her life in 4-H, showing goats, cows, rabbits, turkeys and many other projects — starting in the first grade — but the pageant was always something she watched from afar. The contest is open to girls 13 to 16, so she decided to take her chances.

Eight girls vied for the chance to wear the crown — Kylee Jean Fleenor, GraciBelle Fleener, Tarra Nicole Coats, Samantha Bowers, Hardwick, Nora Humphrey, Presleigh White and Bailey Nicole Leis — and the tension grew as Judge Frank Newkirk read out the results. Leis won People’s Choice. Fleener was third runner-up. Coats was the second runner-up. Leis won first runner-up. Then Hardwick heard her name.

“I’m really looking forward to helping people in the community and passing out ribbons at the fair,” she said. She said the other girls did a good job with the pageant.

Becky Dewees has been organizing the pageant for many years. She said Hardwick’s willingness to listen helped her take the prize.

“She really listened to what we told her and she has such confidence,” said Dewees.

Dewees said, like Hardwick, many girls in the pageant struggle with anxiety.

“It’s astonishing,” she said. “Social media isn’t always a good thing. People put too much on there and I talk to the girls about that. Once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.”

Dewees’s daughter, Jennifer, also helps organize the pageant.

“Bailey has been consistent throughout the competition,” she said. “She seemed genuinely happy to be there and it’s been very easy to see that.”

“We saw her grow and gain so much confidence in herself,” said Becky Dewees.

“She was very relaxed going into the interview and she seemed to really enjoy the experience,” said Jennifer Dewees.

Leis, 15, had an example of pageantry for the past few years. Her sister, Gretchen, was Miss Washington County Teen in 2013 and Miss Washington County Queen in 2017.

“I wanted to follow in my sister’s footsteps,” she said. “She taught me how. I’ve always loved her and I always will.”

Like Hardwick, Leis said she wasn’t expecting to progress so far in the pageant.

“She was telling me earlier today, it’s OK if I don’t win,” said Leis’s mother, Lesle, after the pageant.

“But I did!” Leis cried. She added she enjoyed the experience and thinks other girls should try for the crown as well.

“I hope they’re brave and generous just like me!” she said.

“She has a wonderful personality and that shines through when you speak with her,” said Jennifer Dewees. “She’s very animated. She makes you laugh and that’s hard to do in three minutes. She’s definitely watched her sister, Gretchen, and she’s learned a lot from her.”

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