By Martin J. Kidston
After winning the state pageant in Great Falls, Big Sandys 11 year-old Sadie Faber will represent Montana in the upcoming Miss National Pre-Teen competition in Orlando, Fla., this November.
Sadie, who attends F.E. Miley Elementary School, admitted shes a little nervous about the national competition. For now, however, she can still revel in her state title.
This is my first year competing, Sadie said. We went to the state pageant in Great Falls and I won the state title. They interviewed us, and they interviewed our poise and we showed off our gowns.
Sadie said theres more to the competition than gowns and poise, however, and good grades and a friendly personality can carry contestants a long way.
Sixty percent of the competition is based on academic achievement and the interviews, Sadie said. Forty percent of it is poise, personality and appearance.
With a flair for public speaking, goals of becoming a veterinarian and aspirations to attend MSU-Northern, Sadie said that despite the butterflies, she enjoys competing in pageants.
I like doing stuff like this, she said, and I like talking in public.
Sadie said she will get to be on station KMON at the State Fair in Great Falls. That aside, she enjoys the new friends shes made during the state pageant and looks forward to nationals. But being a small town girl competing against big city girls, she knows she has her work cut out for her.
Big Sandy is a small town, and competing against city girls is tough, Sadie said. Its tough because they have a lot more things to get into at school.
Small or big, Sadie said she enjoys the support of her friends who think its pretty cool, and because she earns strait As in school,whether win, loose or draw at the national pageant, she will venture back to Montana to pursue her goals.
But when it comes to her trip to Orlando, Sadie has plans that are broader than the pageant.
Ill go to Disney World and maybe the beach, she said. Im pretty excited and I think Orlando will be hot.
