Miss Pulaski County, Miss Pre-Teen crowned at Pulaski County Fair

Jul. 20—It's hard to know what shone more brightly, the lights on the Ferris wheel or the sparkles from the dresses worn by the girls in the Pulaski County pageant.

Those girls took center stage Monday night to kick off the 2021 Pulaski County Fair — back this year after having to skip 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fair crowned a new Miss Pulaski County and Miss Pre-Teen during Monday's festivities. In the end, it was 17-year-old Skylar Owen from Glasgow and 9-year-old Audrey Wilson from Russell Springs who claimed their respective titles.

Skylar, who goes to Barren County High School, is the daughter of Tommy and Stacey Owen.

When asked how she was feeling after winning Miss Pulaski County, she laughed and said, "Pretty good."

Skylar won out over five other contestants. She said she was not expecting to be crowned. "I was nervous. I wasn't for sure how it was going to go, but I like the outcome," she laughed.

Her mother, who was on hand to watch her win, seemed just as excited about that outcome.

"Pulaski County, we knew, was a good pageant program," Stacey Owen said. "We were really hoping to get to work with these women who put this on. They were really good to her when she was in Teens, so we were really looking forward to it."

Both said they were now looking forward to the State competition in January.

During the pageant, facts about each competitor were read off by Emcee Gib Gosser. For Skylar, Gosser quoted Skylar as saying the most influential person in her life was her mother.

"Because, first of all, my mother took me to church. And, she's encouraged me to be an independent woman, try many different activities growing up and find out exactly who I am. She supports me in whatever I pursue," Skylar wrote.

While there were six in the Miss Pulaski County category, there were 16 contestants vying for the crown of Miss Pre-Teen.

"It was a pretty good competition, because there were a lot of pretty girls here," winner Audrey Wilson said.

The daughter of Heather and Daniel Wilson, Audrey is a student of Jamestown Elementary.

When asked how she felt after being crowned, Audrey said, "I feel elated. I'm so excited. This is my first year in pre-teens so I've never won a pre-teen pageant before."

Audrey chose to wear a blue ball gown in the Evening Wear category, but admitted that she had bought three dresses in preparation for the event. "This one just stood out to me, and I thought it was so pretty," she said.

Her mother, Heather, said she was both elated for her daughter and proud of her after having gotten first runner-up three times in different competitions.

"She's worked hard. She enjoys it," Heather said.

As the girls walked the runway in front of the judges, emcee John Alexander read out the answers to questions that each girl had filled out.

For Audrey, he mentioned that she enjoys tap, jazz and point ballet; softball; and English style horse riding.

"If she could describe herself in one word, it would be determined," he said.