PARKERSBURG - The judges had their work cut out for them Saturday evening during the 2012 Miss Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Teen and Queen Pageant at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
"There are some quality girls this year," said pageant director Sandy Fisher. "No matter who is crowned, we will end up with a good queen."
The winner of the Miss Parkersburg Homecoming Festival 2012 was Tosha Saltis, of Buchannon, with first runner-up Alexandria Hinton, of Parkersburg, second runner-up Payton Whitt, of Point Pleasant, third runner-up Chelsy Nicol Nazelrodt, of Phillipi, and fourth runner-up of Kalyn Bordman, of Barboursville.
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Photo by Jolene Craig
The 2012 Miss Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Queen Tosha Saltis of Buchannon, is crowned by 2011 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Queen Erika Butler, of Summersville, and the 2011 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Teen Queen Chelsea Gore, of Washington, W.Va., on Saturday evening at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
The Teen winner was Kipra Raine Rhodes, of Spencer, with first runner-up Rebecca Rhodes, of Mineral Wells.
This year there were 12 young women between the ages of 13-15 competing for the title of 2012 Miss Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Teen Queen and 12 young women between the ages of 16-21 vying for this year's Miss Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Queen title.
"I think we would have had more contestants had the big storm that hit last month where everyone was without power for so long," Fisher said. "My deadline was right after that storm and I couldn't change it because I had other deadlines to meet."
On the plus side, Fisher said this year's pageant had a large number of contestants from Wood County.
"We usually don't have many from Wood County and this year we did," she said, adding the number of local contestants was 10.
Contestants participated from Parkersburg, Charleston, Morgantown and Point Pleasant.
The 2011 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Queen Erika Butler, of Summersville, and 2011 Parkersburg Homecoming Festival Teen Queen Chelsea Gore, of Washington, W.Va., were honored for their work and dedication in the past year during Saturday's pageant.
During the competition before both queens were crowned, a Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic winner was named in each age division. Kristen Falconi, of Morgantown, was named both Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality for the Teen Queen pageant. The Miss Congeniality and Miss Photogenic for the Queen division was chosen as Morgan Leigh Smith, of Parkersburg.
The Queen received a $1,200 scholarship while the Teen received a $250 scholarship. Each winner also received a plaque, sash, floral bouquet and basket filled with gifts and gift certificates from area businesses.
In recent years, the pageants have traditionally been held before the festival begins to allow the royalty to begin fulfilling their duties throughout the entire festival.
