Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report for the proudly brought you, I should say,
for this Tuesday, September 30th, proudly brought you by our friends over at Crockets,
I think we want to shout them out real big, and want to thank them because they give
us the opportunity to do some really fun things around here.
Have your host, James, we're being joined right now by the Miss Wisconsin Rapids.
Miss Wisconsin Rapids team, Pageant Contestants.
This is something we have done for over a decade around here, a long time we've been able
to have these young ladies come on the air with us, talk to us about the pageant, and
in that time I have learned so much about pageant, I feel like I could do this.
I wouldn't do very well, I'm not saying I would do well, but I feel like I could do it,
and then I think about actually doing this competition, and it reminds me of how brave you
all are doing this, all these future contestants out there, and encouraging other women to
do this and everything.
I appreciate what you guys are doing and putting up with my fun questions, hopefully silly
fun questions, and getting to know you all a little bit better, I'll have you go down the
line here and let you introduce yourself, so the audience can put a name to the voice.
My name is Olivia Hoyer, my name is Haley Plantico, I'm Kate Limandreski, all of you great
to have you back in again with us, we've talked before, appreciate the time as always, and
really again, appreciate you all putting yourselves into this competition and doing this, and
want to start off, especially for people who haven't listened to last year or the other
times when you've joined us, you can tell us a little bit about yourselves and start
in the end here.
Yeah, so my name is Olivia Hoyer, as I said, and I am the current Miss Wisconsin Rapids
2025.
I have been doing a lot with my CSI tools for tomorrow, helping promote classroom growth and
help with collecting tools, and I've just been keeping really busy this year.
Have you been enjoying it?
Oh, I've been loving it, I'm not looking forward to the end.
Yeah, I can see it, I can see it in your face, which is wonderful.
Have you, has this been what you thought it would be, or has it been more than you thought
it would be?
Oh, it's been so much more, especially not really knowing what I was all getting into,
it was going to be my first time really within this organization at this level, and it's
just been a continuous growth for me learning so much within it.
You've done a great job, I've heard great things, and well done, and again, congratulations,
I don't think we got to congratulate you since you've been back, you've got the ground
that congrats on that, that's awesome.
Thank you.
And go down, continue down the line here.
I'm Haley, this is my second year running for Miss Wisconsin Rapids.
My first year, I was super nervous, I still am, but I came back just because of the
sisterhood, it's really not a beauty pageant, it's a scholarship organization.
Well said, Haley, well said, thank you.
I'm Caitlin, and this will be my third year for competing for Miss Wisconsin Rapids team,
and I keep coming back because it is just so wonderful, I learned so much and grow as
a person every year.
Picky backing on that, if you guys could answer for us why you entered this pageant, and
kind of like some of what you've already mentioned there a little bit with maybe some
of the other reasons of why you originally got into it.
I have to give my grandma credit for it.
She had been pushing me into wanting to do the organization for many years, and I just
kept putting her down saying no, not my thing, not my thing.
And finally, one year I just gave in just to get her off my back for it, but I ended up
falling in love with it, and now I don't think I'm ever going to leave, I'm going to be
here forever.
As you get older, that's something that doesn't change by the way your parents or grandparents
like in so many times they're right too, don't tell them I said that, but yeah they're
right usually.
So I started mainly because I had a friend, very dear friend, she was pushing me to do
it, and like I said I wasn't really my thing, I decided to just go for it one year because
I had so many people supporting me, and I came back mainly because of the friends that
I have made, everyone is so sweet and is so willing to help you and support you in
the competition.
I joined because of the scholarship opportunities, and then after talking to girls who have
competed for it before, getting to hear all the sisterhood, and then actually joining
in and finding out the sisterhood really is a real thing.
Yeah, and again, kind of piggybacking on those answers and all great stuff, you three,
really, really nice stuff, when it comes to the benefits of being a part of this competition,
what are some of those that you would that you have found, and what are some that have
been very exciting, like oh I didn't expect this to be a part of this.
I think for me it really is the sisterhood, everybody says that this organization is surrounded
by sisterhood and helping build each other up, but you ultimately know that it is a competition,
so in the back of your mind I think everybody always thinks there's going to be some of
that competition, and as much as every girl is competing for the crown, we truly do lift
every single one of us up at state, I don't think there was a single girl who wanted to
tear me down, almost everybody was supporting everyone, and it was just a great thing to watch.
I think you gain such a good sense of community doing this, because it is super community focused,
you're out in the community, regardless if you win or not, and you're supporting the people
around you. I would say the personal growth, you walk into it, not as confident, and when you walk
out, you are 10 times more confident, and every year you go back, you just gain more and more
confident. You know, all again, great answers. One of the things, it brought up a number of times
the sisterhood and some of the fellowship there and everything, and for the audience, I know they
don't get to see the interviews, they don't have a visual component to this, but I've been doing this
for almost 10 years now, and every single contestant that has come in here, everybody is friendly,
everybody is helping each other out, rooting for each other, if somebody's walking in and they
got something in their teeth, they're going to tell the other person, that kind of thing, that kind
of friendship. It's really sweet to see, and it's really organic, it feels like, it's just one of
those things that you guys, that happens to just happen, and that's really unique and beautiful,
and we don't have enough of it out there, so it's great to see in this particular case,
and bringing up the scholarship is not brought up nearly enough, and how important that is,
and what a big impact that can make for a family and for an individual. It's a great part of this,
and all great answers, y'all. So, what will you be doing as far as the competition part of this
goes? You know, just kind of go down the line here a little bit with this, or what you did do even.
Um, so I know it's going to be a lot different for me at this coming competition, being the
title holder and not having to compete, so I'm looking forward to having fun and no stress throughout
the whole thing. I know they're kind of working on, I'll be helping the girls warm up for the
interviews, I will be helping crown the next girl, so I'm just looking forward to the new experience
that I'm going to get. This year I'm doing a painting on stage I did last year, but taking from
what I did last year, I really grown a lot, and I'm very excited for this one. Hmm, very cool.
I'm going to be doing a contemporary point dance, so it's not going to be your classic traditional
ballet, it's going to be more of like the creepy flowy point. Hmm, interesting, very cool. All great
stuff, much better than what I would do, just standing up there looking scared. I feel like that's
what I would do, if I don't have a character to play, I'm on stage, I don't know how that would
go, but it's really good stuff, y'all. That's really, really fun. So, when it comes to somebody,
young girl out there listening, and maybe she's been thinking about doing this, and asking
her parents or guardians about being a part of this or something, what would you say to a young
person out there listening that is thinking about being a part of this pageant? I would tell them,
just do it. You're never going to know what it is until you try it, and I promise none of us bite,
we're all super friendly, and we talk about the sisterhood, we'll make you feel welcome,
and just to be able to experience it, you never know what's going to happen until you try,
and I promise it won't be as scary as everyone maybe thinks it is. I completely agree with that.
I've always been very shy in my whole life, so this is something that is completely out of the
norm for me, but I love it so much. I've grown so much out of my shell, and I think it's really good
for younger girls to get into. Everyone there is to help you, there's a bunch of host moms who will
get you ready. We have a pageant closet, so you don't need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars
on an evening out. It's all there for you. We have a ton of volunteers that come in,
like the week of show. Everyone's there to help you, the girls are all there to help you,
you have a question, a girl will help you. You know, again, as somebody who came into this
nine years ago, knowing almost nothing about this kind of competition or pageants in general,
and all these things, it was my mom that really got me to understand the scholarship part of this,
but Caitlin, the part that you bring up there is something that I don't think a lot of people
know about all the time. Especially to families out there that may think, look at this and think,
well, I don't know that we can afford that, or I don't know that we could do that. I really
respect and appreciate that the committee, everybody involved in this, making it so that
any family can be a part of this, any young lady can be a part of this. That's really impactful,
really important, especially when you look at the scholarship part of this, and even bigger than
that, as hard as it is to say, sometimes up, is the fellowship and being able to every kid getting
a chance to experience what you three have. That's very cool and I appreciate you bringing that up.
What are you looking forward to about the competition? Now, you've already kind of mentioned this a
little bit. You get to be a little bit of a fly on the wall for this one. That's going to be fun for
you. Oh, yeah. I'm so looking forward to it. I can't even stop smiling when I think about it.
It's going to be so cool. I imagine part of that for you is certainly
the relief a little bit. There's a human element to that, but also just from hearing you talk
and talking with the others here and everything, being able to cheer the others on, I imagine.
They're all like my sisters. Even if there's some that I've met just this first year,
we always joke about within the organization, everybody's each other's little ducks, and I know
our directors won't laugh about that later, but they really are a family, and so I'm just so
happy to see them all do the best that they can, and I'm really just I'm so excited. Right on.
I'm super excited to see how everyone presents their CSI on stage this year. I'm super passionate
about mine, and I know all these other girls are so passionate about theirs, and I'm very excited
to see that. I'm just so excited to see how much everyone is growing on stage, watching everyone
come in shy on the first day of workshop to going on stage and really being themselves and not
caring what other people think of them. The growth from year to year and seeing in you individuals,
especially those that come back and continue to compete and everything, it's one of the coolest
things I've ever seen sitting in this chair. It's seen the growth of you guys, and how much
you guys enjoy this and get into it and everything, and it really is a joy. It's a humble little
thing to be able to do. It'll be a tiny part of all of this. It's fun to see, and really a cool
part to mention. You mentioned CSI as well. Would you mind mentioning what a CSI is for those that
may not know and what your past one was? Yeah, so your CSI is a community service initiative.
It can be anything that a girl is passionate about. It's something that they feel the community
may need more awareness on or more help for, and it's their job then to they take hold of that
and find what they're really passionate about and how they can help within that. And so mine was
tools for tomorrow, and so this last year I've been written really hard and helping students feel
safe and involved in their classrooms, and also helping collect school supplies. I worked with
the United Way stuff, the bus, and just making sure to give the classrooms and students all the
resources they need. You're very good at this. Very good. Another one of your CSIs could have been
descriptors, you know, just describing things. Very well done. Very well done. So could you tell us
about your CSI? So my CSI is the courage to ask. It's about feeling safe asking people for stuff
and or anything really, and I really want to instill that sense of community because people are
out there to help you. There's so many resources, and I want to push that on a lot of the younger
generations so that they don't feel isolated. It's a really good one. Yeah. My community service
initiative is music is an instrument to growth. I really want to push people to get into the music
whether it's band orchestra choir. You really do find a sense of belonging, and it helps your
you throughout school too. You get better academic grades. It really helped me focus on other things
being in band and doing some music and everything. I noticed I never was going to become a world class
musician, but it certainly helped me focus on in other ways and the friendships I made and stuff
and band. It was a lot of fun. This has been a lot of fun. Thank you all so much for hanging out
and joining us. I want to remind everybody that miss miss and teen competitions for Miss Wisconsin
Rapids is coming up October 25th over at the Performing Arts Center. You can find out more by going
to misswisconsinrapids.org. Misswisconsinrapids.org head on over there. Be sure to follow them on social media
as well and share their posts and your pages. Just never know who might see it otherwise. Wishing you
all great time. Have fun and joy yourself. Good luck to each and every one of you. Thank you
again so much for the time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for joining us for another
edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
