Annabelle Bear has been crowned as the 2022 Edelweiss Princess — and will now reign over the 50th Swiss Wine Festival, which will be held from Thursday, August 25th to Sunday, August 28th.
Annabelle was crowned from a field of nine candidates in a pageant held last Sunday afternoon at the Historic Hoosier Theater.
She is the daughter of T.R. and Lindy Bear of Tapps Ridge Road; and was
The sponsored in the pageant by Edelweiss Floral.
The 19-year old will be a sophomore at Purdue/Ivy Tech. While in high school she served as Vice President and Secretary of FFA, and earned her FFA State Degree. A four year varsity cheerleader, she was a co-ed cheerleader at Purdue University last year. She was the 2021 Miss Switzerland County.
Annabelle’s career ambition is to graduate from college with a master’s degree in elementary education and special education; and would like to become a cheer coach to change people’s outlook on cheerleading.
She earned a $2,000 scholarship in her win.
The first runner up in Sunday’ pageant was Lily Williams. She earned a $1,000 scholarship.
Lily is a senior at Switzerland County High School and is 17 years old. She is the daughter of Laura Williams, of near East Enterprise, and was sponsored in the pageant by Tiny Tornado’s Daycare.
Lily is a member of Mt. Sterling Baptist Church; is a member of the local 4-H program where she is involved in the Junior Leaders program. Lily is currently in her second year in the dental program at Southeastern Career Center; and her career ambition is to attend the University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash, to become a dental hygienist.
The second runner up in this year’ Edelweiss Princess pageant was Keirstan Oeffinger.
Keirstan is a sophomore at Indiana University, and is the daughter of Sarah Oeffinger of near Quercus Grove and the late Keith Oeffinger. She was sponsored in the pageant by Brad Baldwin, Rider Realty.
At IU, Keirstan has earned inclusion in the Phi Eta Sigma National Honors Society; is a Founder’s Scholar; and has earned inclusion on the dean’s list. Her career ambition is to work in the Human Resources Department at Cook Medical as the Human Resources Manager and specialize in talent acquisition. She earned a $500 scholarship; and was also honored by her fellow contestants as Miss Congeniality.
Earning third runner up honors was Kayla Scranton. She was sponsored in the pageant this year by Vevay Main Street, and is a junior at Hanover College. She is the daughter of Harold and Lisa Scranton of near Fairview.
The recipient of the 2020 Lilly Endowment Scholarship, Kayla is a member of the Nu chapter of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and she is also a cheerleader at Hanover. Kayla’s career ambition is to be a prenatal or pediatric genetic counselor. She earned a $250 scholarship.
Other contestants in Sunday’s pageant included: Ariel Bladen, Alisha Detmer, Allison Furnish, Samirah Ndiaye, and McKaila Peelman.