Past hot air balloon festival queens encourage participation in the contest
COSHOCTON – There is still time to sign up for the chance to earn scholarship money and represent Coshocton County all over the state of Ohio.
The Coshocton Hot Air Balloon Festival held Thursday through Saturday, June 8-10 at the Coshocton County Fairgrounds will feature a queen’s contest for the third year in a row.
“It’s a great opportunity to see different festivals around Ohio and to travel,” said Candace Cormack.
She was crowned queen at the 2016 hot air balloon festival.
“I liked the contest because of the scholarship chance, but I also learned a lot, got to meet other girls in Ohio and promote the Coshocton Hot Air Balloon festival, which I really enjoyed doing,” she said. “It’s an awesome festival.”
To compete in the queen contest you must: Be a female resident of Coshocton County; be a high school senior or a college freshman as of May 1, 2017 and plan to pursue a post-secondary education in the fall; be willing to represent the Coshocton Hot Air Balloon Festival at the festival events and at a minimum of eight festivals/events (one each in Knox, Muskingum, Licking, Tuscarawas, Holmes, and Guernsey counties, two queen’s choice); a chaperone must be present at all events and festivals including local events and festivals. The chaperone must be a parent, grandparent, or other relative at least 21 years old. Contests also must fill out an application form and complete a 500 to 750 word essay on why they feel service to others is an important part of living in a society.
“Make sure you have time in your schedule to go to different festivals,” Cormack said. “I really enjoyed going to them. I met a lot of people and had really incredible experiences.”
The winner of the contest also receives a $500 scholarship.
“That was very important to me because it helped me move on with my dreams,” Cormack said.
She is majoring in business and working at The Home Loan Savings Bank over the summer. She was attending Mount Vernon Nazarene University, but will transfer to Liberty University this fall.
Shelby Mizer, the 2015 queen, also greatly appreciated the scholarship money that came with her title.
“It was a big help with college,” she said.
Her mother Ginny Mizer added that the scholarship money especially helped with books.
Mizer started out at The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, but then decided to pursue dog grooming school, which she just graduated from.
“I really liked going to all the different festivals and learning about them when I was queen, but my other favorite part was working with the crew of the Ugly Duckling balloon,” Shelby said. “It was amazing going up with them because you could see all of Coshocton.”
She encouraged those eligible to take a chance at the contest.
“It was a great experience,” Shelby said. “I got to meet a lot of nice people, learn about different counties and festivals and doing this looks great on college applications.”
Applications for the queen contest and more on the festival can be found at http://www.visitcoshocton.com/hot-air-balloon-festival. Deadline to apply for the contest is June 1.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
