PORTSMOUTH- After a weekend of school spirit, pageantry, and scholarship under the limelight of the Miss River Days Pageant at Shawnee State University, a list of winners has been announced.

According to the organization, Miss Wheelersburg Shelby Hammond took home Miss River Days Queen. The rest of her court included First Runner-Up, Lexi Conkel; Second Runner-Up, Kate Mantell; Young Queen, Layni Conkel; Young Princess, Marli Neff; Junior Queen, Lynli Conkel; Junior Princess, Allie Fraley; Little Queen, Josie Mains; Little Princess, Ila Wright; Tiny Queen, JoElle Sowkulech; Tiny Princess, Kace Sherman; Tiny Tot Queen, Chloe Fischer; Tiny Tot Princess, Lindy Sherman; Tot Queen, Ada McCallister; Tot Princess, Enolla Phipps; Toddler Queen, Sophia Hammer; Toddler Princess, Skyla Newton; Wee Queen, Miara Wilson; Wee Princess, Wren Hettinger; Baby Queen, Hadlee Stiles; Baby Princess, Baelee Nichols.

Amanda Crabtree has been co-chair of the River Days Pageant for three years and involved since 1997, when she was a contestant. She has been a court member, pageant mom, committee member, and now serves as co-chair. Once again, Crabtree was heavily involved in the pageant every step of the way this year.

“This was one of the toughest competitions ever,” Crabtree claimed. “I think these young ladies are so driven that they worked incredibly hard at spreading their platforms and their hard work really showed. I don’t know how the judges made a determination, because everyone was just that good this year.”

Crabtree claimed that the pageant is important for many reasons, from building up future leaders, providing scholarships, but also in building community spirit. One thing really stuck out to her this year regarding that topic.

“One of the things I love is that the pageant is that it is like one massive Scioto County pep rally, where students and supporters from different schools show up wearing shirts with contestants on them,” Crabtree said. “One of the things I noticed this pageant, that I thought was really neat, was that we had audience members standing to clap and praise contestants not on their shirt. People were just supporting the girls for doing a great job on stage.”

Crabtree, an educator of 23 years with a long history in the pageant, says there are many reasons she continues to volunteer her time to this mission. One of the most important reasons she continues to help stems from a unit of measurement they use to gauge the growth of the contestants.

“One of my favorite things we do is a recorded interview with contestants as they just get started. We then follow up that interview and repeat it on our Super Sunday dress rehearsal. We then put these videos back-to-back to show the contestants the transformation they’ve gone through,” Crabtree explained. “Those transformations keep me coming back, because it shows these young women growing in pride and holding their heads a little higher.”

2024 Miss Wheelersburg Shelby Hammond had a busy summer of planning her own pageant platform, as well as attending platform events of other contestants. She also spent time at community events, such as the Memorial Day Parade, Wheelersburg Community Partnership’s first event, and more.

Her platform had events built around bringing addiction recovery and mental health to the forefront of people’s minds.

“My platform title is ‘Attacking Addiction: No Shame,’ which focuses on substance abuse and the effects it has on families and children. I have personally dealt with an addicted loved one. With that being said, this platform is held close to my heart! I would love to invite you to my community service event, you will learn how families can support their loved ones battling addiction by providing a shame-free environment,” Hammond explained back in June. “Events like this are extremely important in this area. Unfortunately, addiction is a serious problem in our communities. Whether it be drugs, alcohol, or other addictions. I feel there needs to be more resources and awareness made for children and families of the person that is suffering from addiction. This is a personal issue for me and I want to tackle this problem head on. I want kids to know that they are not alone with their struggles. There is no shame in their loved one’s addiction, it doesn’t define who they are independently. We need to start provided that kind of atmosphere and hope to break the epidemic of addiction.”

Months later, that same energy and pride in her story carried Hammond forward as she stepped onto the pageant stage.

“It was absolutely amazing. To be up there and speaking my story to 2,000 plus people was a once in a lifetime experience,” Hammond said. “I’m really proud of getting up there and sharing my story, because I believe sharing our stories can make an impact and better someone else’s life.”

Winning is a shock for nearly any contestant, it was no different for Hammond.

“Oh, my goodness, it was insane,” Hammond recalled. “I’m still in so much shock that I won first place. I had a lot of hope and faith in myself, but to hear my name called, confirming the work I did over the summer and on stage was accomplishing something was inspiring.”

Many winners immediately start looking at future opportunities to carry on their pageant life, but Hammond says that she is just looking forward to finishing her senior year in high school and taking her first steps into a nursing program at Shawnee State. She is also looking forward to traveling with her court to other parts of Ohio to discuss the River Days event and pageant. She isn’t discounting future opportunities, or ruling them out, but she is looking mostly at continuing her life and mission here first.

SSU President Dr. Eric Braun made an appearance at the pageant. Crabtree said the organizers knew the university was prepared to offer $1,000 scholarships to the participants, but he shocked everyone there with something different from agreed upon.

“Over $80,000 in scholarships was given away the night of the pageant,” Crabtree said. “A big reason for that was Shawnee State announcing each contestant would be given a $5,000 scholarship to SSU.”