The 2017 Swiss Wine Festival Princess court includes
McKayli Scudder of Vevay has had a long list of accomplishments this past year: battling Gullian-Barre Syndrome and achieving her goal of walking for her high school graduation; being crowned Prom Queen this Spring; and is anxiously awaiting the start of her freshman year of college this fall at Hanover College.
On Sunday night in the Switzerland County High School cafeteria, she added another accomplishment: she was crowned as this year’s Edelweiss Princess of the upcoming Swiss Wine Festival. Along with the crown and the honor comes a $1,000 scholarship. This year’s festival will be held from August 24th-27th in the Paul Ogle Riverfront Park.
McKayli is 18 years old, graduated from Switzerland County High School this past Spring, and was sponsored in the pageant by RS Home Sales. She is the daughter of Chastity Scudder and Devin Scudder.
In addition to being the 2017 Prom Queen; McKayli was honored as the first runner up for the Fall Homecoming celebration and also was first runner up for the Winter Homecoming Celebration; and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Pep Club. She was also a member of the soccer and track teams while in high school. She is active in the Switzerland Baptist Church Youth Group.
At Hanover, McKayli plans on studying kinesiology.
The first runner up in this year’s pageant, and also earning the title of Miss Congeniality from her fellow competitors, was Cameron Ray.
Cameron was sponsored in the pageant by The Ridge Winery; and is the daughter of Katina Carter and Eric Ray. She is 18 years old, a graduate of Switzerland County High School, and will be a freshman this fall at Hanover College. She earned a $500 scholarship in the pageant.
While in high school, Cameron was a member of the National Honor Society; the National Society of High School Scholars; and was active in the art club and the conservation club. She was a member of the varsity cross country team, and was a four time Regional qualifier and a two time Semistate qualifier. She also was a member of the track team, where she qualified for the Regional three times. She enjoys riding her horse and archery and hunting.
Cameron’s career ambition is to become a veterinarian and open her own practice here in Switzerland County.
Earning second runner up honors was Ariana Bright.
Ariana is the daughter of Donald Bright and Georganna Ray; and was sponsored in the pageant by Shell’s Ice Cream and Grill. She’s 18 years old, and is a graduate of Switzerland County High School. Ariana will be a freshman this fall at the University of Southern Indiana. As the second runner up, Ariana earned a $250 scholarship.
In high school, she graduated with an Academic Honors Diploma; was a member of the National Honor Society; and was a delegate to Hoosier Girls State through the American Legion Auxiliary. She was a four year member of the varsity cheerleading squad, serving as co-captain her senior year; and also played varsity volleyball for two years.
Continuing her education, Ariana plans to pursue a career as a forensic criminologist.
The third runner up in Sunday night’s pageant was Summer Dickerson, and she earned a $100 scholarship in the pageant.
Summer is 18 years old, and is a graduate of Switzerland County High School. She is the daughter of Mark Dickerson and Bridgette Miller, and was sponsored in the pageant by the Cocoa Tan. She will be a freshman at Northern Kentucky University this fall.
She is the reigning Miss Switzerland County of the 4-H Fair; was the second runner up in the 2016 Miss Switzerland County pageant; and was the fourth runner up in the 2016 Edelweiss Princess pageant.
In school, Summer was President of the Business Professionals of America; was President of the Student Council; and was co-President of Students Against Destructive Decisions. She was the co-Vice President of the Senior Class; Vice President of the Junior Historical Society; and was also involved in the FFA and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Her career ambition is to have a career as a neonatal nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
For more information on this year’s Swiss Wine Festival, go to www.swisswinefestival.org.