TodayTaylor leads Ship Fair court
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Master of Ceremonies Dan Michaels of Red 102.3 introduces the five finalists for the Miss Shippensburg Fair Queen pageant Monday night. Left to right are CarrieAnn Shay, Jordan Kissinger, Ashley Smith, Hannah Taylor and Emily Vaughn. (Karissa Zimmer/The Sentinel)
Little Miss Shippensburg Fair 2007 Stephanie Jones, right, passes her title to 2008 winner Bailey Bauserman Monday night. (Karissa Zimmer/The Sentinel)
Jamila Shamshudin, left, and Hannah Taylor walk down the runway during the opening of the Miss Shippensburg Fair Queen pageant Monday. (Karissa Zimmer/The Sentinel)
Hannah Taylor — an EMS volunteer who plans to become a nurse — is the newest Shippensburg Community Fair queen, and Emily Vaughn is Miss Shippensburg Fair Sweetheart.
Taylor, 17, won’t be helping out the EMS group much at the fair this year, said Alma Myers, chief of the Shippensburg Area Emergency Medical Services. But she said was proud of Taylor’s accomplishments, which include recently earning her emergency medical technician certification.
“She does anything,” Myers said. “She is a very lovable girl.”
Taylor is the daughter of Ronald K. and Deb Taylor. Her brother Zachary, a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, escorted her onto the stage.
In response to teasing by Master of Ceremonies Dan Michaels of Red 102.3, she said orange was her favorite color and noted it was also the Virginia Tech color. Michaels suggested the orange was in honor of his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, but a number of Phillies’ fans in the audience shouted him down while he heckled them back.
Contestants at Monday night’s fair event had to introduce themselves without notes, then answer various questions. Taylor was asked how she’d convince people to come to the fair, and she said that the fair was “an amazing time to see friends and family you haven’t seen in a long time.”
After the five finalists were selected, all five had to answer the same question for the judges. The contestants stayed backstage where they couldn’t hear the question or the other answers. The question pointed out that the Miss America contestants each have platforms — a cause the contestant supports.
When asked what her platform would be, Taylor said that based on her volunteer work with the EMS unit and at Luhrs Performing Arts Center, she would support volunteering. “I believe in giving back to the community,” she said.
Vaughn was the last of the five finalists, and she said that when she was a young girl, she got very sick and Ronald McDonald House helped her family.
“They take care of you and feed you,” she said. If Vaughn had a platform, she would make announcements and support fund-raisers for the Ronald McDonald Houses. “They have helped my family out tremendously.”
At the end of her answer, Michaels asked for her help announcing the winner of the Miss Congeniality award, which is voted on by the contestants, not by the pageant judges.
“I’m not saying that,” Vaughn said. So Michaels announced that Vaughn was the 2008 Miss Congeniality.
Vaughn was also asked what business she would suggest for Shippensburg that would appeal to people ages 16 to 20. She said her idea might be nontraditional, but she loves to dance and would like to see a safe dance club where parents would be comfortable allowing teenagers to go.
Vaughn is the daughter of Tim and LeAnn Vaughn of Newburg. She is planning to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania to study fashion merchandising. She’ll also play on the volleyball team at IUP.
Both Vaughn and Taylor played softball in high school. Taylor also volunteered as an athletic trainer and was head drum major of the marching band for two years. She was sponsored by the Shippensburg Kiwanis Club.
Pleasant Hall Volunteer Fire Department, which serves Orrstown, Letterkenny Township and parts of Greene and Lurgan townships, was Vaughn’s sponsor. The last two fair queens have been sponsored by Pleasant Hall, and the fire company almost had a string of three winners.
Pleasant Hall volunteers sell Rakestraw’s ice cream at their fair booth, and there was some good-natured kidding at the booth after the contest when ice cream buyers commented on how close the company had come to having a three-peat.
Bailey Bauserman, 7, is the new Little Miss Shippensburg Fair 2008. Talon Killian, 8, is Little Miss Shippensburg Fair Princess 2008.
The girls were introduced on stage at the 6 p.m. show and then had to draw a question to answer for the judges. Talon was asked what she would spend $100 on if she received it for her birthday.
“I would give it to a cancer fund because my brother passed away,” she said. She is the daughter of Shannon Killian-McCombie and Lonny Killian and was sponsored by T&G Car Sales of Shippensburg. Tammy Killian, her stepmother, said Talon had done some practicing for the event and had done well.
Bailey was asked “If you could be an animal, what would you be and why?”
“A dog,” she said promptly, “because I love dogs.”
Bailey’s biography for the pageant indicated she has two golden retrievers, “which she loves very much.” She is the daughter of Donald Jr. and Jennifer Bauserman of Shippensburg. She was sponsored by Bauserman’s Barber Shop.
“She’s just a good little girl,” said her grandmother Barbara Stouffer. “She likes to be around people. She loves animals.”
Bailey and Talon then began the first of their duties for the fair by sitting onstage for the Miss Shippensburg Fair Queen Pageant. They took turns carrying the basket of folded notes so the contestants could draw their questions. The queen wasn’t selected until about 10 p.m., so they had a long night.
