Horn honored as newest Antique Festival princess

  • By Dave Mast of The Holmes County Journal
  • October 14, 2009
  • 773
                        
The tiniest contestant for the 2009 Holmes County Antique Festival Princess turned out to be the most formidable one during the Saturday, Oct. 10 contest held at Millersburg Christian Church. And to think, she did it with one arm tied behind her back — well, at least wrapped in a bright pink cast. Seven-year-old Kyli Horn wowed the judges and stole the show, in which 12 contestants vied for the crown to replace outgoing Princess Alexis Yoder, who served her position and the festival faithfully during her reign. Horn thought that maybe she watched her chances slip away, literally, when she fell off the monkey bars at school on Monday and broke her arm. But that little mishap didn’t deter the Millersburg elementary first-grader, or the judges, and she will now represent Holmes County over the next year as its princess. “I’ve thought about this a lot, and it’s something that I have dreamed about doing,” said Horn. “I like getting all dressed up and I am looking forward to traveling around Ohio and representing the Antique Festival. I think it will be fun to go to all of the festivals with my mom and with the court.” For such a tiny princess, the daunting task of getting up in front of crowds and speaking didn’t seem to bother Horn, who said, “It really doesn’t scare me at all. I like being in front of people.” Horn will be joined by first attendant Madeline Dawson, 7, and second attendant Lori Troyer, 8, who will do some extensive traveling of their own to represent the Antique Festival. “This is very exciting,” said Troyer. “You always think there’s a chance you’ll make it, but you never really think that it will happen for some reason. Now, here it is. It’s going to be a fun year, and I’m looking forward to it.” “I feel like I can represent our festival well, and I am looking forward to meeting new people, traveling and riding in the festivals,” said an emotional Dawson, who had tried out last year and gained some valuable experience. “I learned a lot from Alexis this past year. She told me so much about what she did, and how much fun she had, and I am looking forward to that same experience. I am so happy and excited right now.” It was a bittersweet moment for Yoder, who has done an exemplary job during her reign. The tears of leaving behind something she has thoroughly enjoyed were intertwined with the smile she has used so well serving in her position over the past year. “This experience is going to help me so much when I get older,” said Yoder. “I’ve had so many great experiences and so many wonderful memories. I want to thank my court, and especially Queen Olivia (Finney) for including me in her travels. We had so much fun and we’ve shared a lot of good laughs together. She was like an older sister to me, and she is the best queen ever. I am going to miss this whole thing.” According to Rachel Day, event chair, this group of girls has been extremely hardworking over the past five weeks in preparation for the event, and she thought they represented the festival and the contest well. “This group will be very good at promoting the Antique Festival and Holmes County,” said Day. “They all did a fantastic job, and honestly, going into today, I was very glad that I wasn’t one of the people who had to make the decision, because all of the girls were very good. Kyli will do great as princess. She is confident in herself and she has a great support system.” Rounding out the contestants were Kimberly Brown, McKenzie Currence, Lisa Elliott, Allison Franks, Sedona Goodard, Jessica Gurley, Kayla Malachin, Julie Parrish and Emily Rollince, who served as Yoder’s first runner-up this past year. Many of these girls may well be back again next year, hoping to be standing in the same place that Horn now occupies, holding the flowers and wearing the princess tiara. Perhaps Dawson summed the excitement and anticipation up best when she said, “I’ll be right back here again next year, and when I am old enough, I’ll be up here running for the queen. I love the friendships that come from doing this.”


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