Contestants Make Friends At Cinderella Pageant Preliminaries

Moapa Valley Progress

The Preliminary Pageant for the Moapa Valley and Virgin Valley Cinderella competition was held on Saturday, February 23 at Grant Bowler Elementary School in Logandale. Pageant director, Vanessa Moreno-Solis, along with her daughter, Amarissa Solis, put on a great pageant. It was Moreno-Solis’s first time as the sole director over the Moapa Valley delegation since previous director, Jacqulyn Pray, stepped down.

Moreno-Solis remarked about her time spent getting these girls ready for the day of the pageant. “I absolutely enjoyed getting to know all of the participants at the free workshops we held,” Moreno-Solis said. “These once timid girls gained great confidence to not only model but to speak. Cinderella allows each girl to shine for their unique qualities.”

Moreno-Solis also said that the Cinderella program is also about creating lifelong friends who encourage one another to do their best.
“I look forward to creating more Cinderella Magic moments in the Valley,” she added.

There were fifteen contestants ranging from the ages of 3 to 18. Contestants came from all over Nevada, including as far as Battle Mountain.

Most of the contestants had never met one another before the pageant. But by the end, many had forged friendships that developed through the day. Starting out the day as contestants, they ended it as friends.

One of the highlights of pageant is the talent portion. For her talent, Miniature Miss division contestant, Crystal Solis, recited a poem about sharing a smile. She went on to talk about the St. Baldricks Foundation and shared her excitement for Rocking The Bald on March 9, a fundraising event for childhood cancer research. Crystal also put out a donation jar at the registration desk for the contestants and audience to donate to the cause. She was able to raise $190 during the pageant. Crystal said that she was very grateful to everyone in attendance for helping her get closer to her goal of raising a total of $4,500.

The winners for the Moapa Valley Pageant included Faithlyn Schraeder, Makayla Western, Ariana Rubio, Tessa Totten, and Victoria Pray.

For Virgin Valley, the winners were: Jordanna Crockett, Alyssa Leavitt, Aracely Castillo, and Allie Bledsoe.

Victoria Pray, who was crowned as the overall Moapa Valley Woman, was asked why she competes in the pageants. She responded, “I love the feeling of presenting all of my hard work on the stage and making my Mom proud.”

Pray observed that Cinderella doesn’t follow the normal stereotype of a beauty pageant. “There is a lot of character building and life skills that you gain from it,” she said, “like public speaking and interview skills. These skills have helped me a lot over the years and there’s always more I can learn.”

Overall this pageant shows that any girl can be a winner if they are beautiful on the inside as well as the out.