Hollister preteen competes in Little Miss Sweetheart pageant for
the second year in a row
When Mia Ventimiglia’s parents received a flyer for the Little
Miss Sweetheart pageant five years ago, they were leery of
pageants.
Hollister preteen competes in Little Miss Sweetheart pageant for the second year in a row
When Mia Ventimiglia’s parents received a flyer for the Little Miss Sweetheart pageant five years ago, they were leery of pageants.
Nobody wants to see his or her little girl exploited and put through the hardships of competing against other little girls merely for the opportunity to wear a crown, especially under the age of 10. Let little girls be little girls they thought.
However, when the Ventimiglias discovered that Little Miss Sweetheart was about more than pumps and party dresses, they looked into it.
What the family discovered was a pageant community that emphasizes leadership over looks.
Not wanting to expose their daughter to the world of pageantry too early, the Ventimiglias let their daughter pursue other interests. When Ventimiglia turned seven and the family received another invitation to compete in the pageant, the family reconsidered.
“Though they’re in competition with one another, the kids are very supportive of each other. They’re all friends,” Debbie Ventimiglia said. “They get to play and dress up. It’s not all just about the contest. The kids feel good about themselves.”
There are also optional contests within the pageant that don’t have a bearing on the selection of queen. Optional contests include talent, speech, photo, best thank you note to a sponsor, personality and spirit.
Ventimiglia is excited about the talent contest. For the past two years, she has been learning sign language. For her talent she will interpret the song “America, The Beautiful” into sign.
Ventimiglia was born with a hearing disorder and wears hearing aides to compensate for the hearing loss.
Ventimiglia’s second grade teacher at Ladd Lane Elementary School came from a sign language background. Last year she helped Ventimiglia to learn sign language for fun.
“When I first started to learn to sign it was hard, but now it’s pretty easy,” Ventimiglia said. “I’m still a little nervous.”
Ventimiglia worked with a friend’s mom, who is deaf, who helped coach her on how to sign her song.
She had the opportunity to perform her song in front of an audience last weekend as Ventimiglia premiered her talent in front of her church.
Ventimiglia has reservations about getting dressed up and putting on a fancy dress, but she enjoys seeing the friends she’s made through the competition.
Last year she was a semi-finalist overall and won the Miss Photogenic contest. This year’s contest began July 17 and continues through July 22.
“You get all sweaty and you have to keep clean,” Ventimiglia said. “I’d rather kick a ball.”
