Every year, young women in Lancaster County have an opportunity to participate in the Miss Lancaster County Scholarship Pageant. On Feb. 3, six titleholders were crowned during the contest at Ephrata High School, qualifying them to advance to the Miss Pennsylvania and Miss Pennsylvania's Teen Scholarship competitions in June. This year's winning contestants include Noelle Schneider of Quarryville, Julianna Billings of Peach Bottom, AmandaGrace Krier of Levittown, Kathryn Davis of Willow Street, Whitney Ridler of Manchester, and Maggie Roe of Lancaster.

During the scholarship pageant, each contestant gave a unique performance and highlighted a community service project near to her heart. Schneider, who received the title of Miss Lancaster County, performed a harp arrangement that combined Handel's "Passacaglia" and Destiny's Child's "Survivor" in a mashup of the classical and R&B genres. Schneider presented her service project, MAOSmiles: Delivering Hope to Hospitalized Children. Through Schneider's initiative, gift bags containing greeting cards, craft kits, toys and books are delivered to children undergoing hospital treatment. Each bag also includes a QR code to a YouTube channel of Miss America titleholders reading their favorite children's books. "Hospitalized children feel isolated and have increased anxiety in unfamiliar environments," Schneider said. "(MAOSmiles) provides children with bags to craft the courage to face their hospital stay with joy."

Billings, who was crowned as this year's Miss Red Rose City, presented a jazz-influenced dance routine to the song "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" by Pink. Billings said she chose this particular song due to how deeply its lyrics and title resonated with her; the 2023 Solanco High School graduate has been dancing for 15 years, and she currently works as an assistant coach at Debbie School of Dance in Quarryville. "Dance has always been a big part of my life. I couldn't imagine not dancing again," added Billings. "This song perfectly captured the sport that I've given my life to."

Billings also discussed her service initiative, Chiari Malformation Awareness, which she created to educate people on a rare condition she was diagnosed with in 2020. After her diagnosis, Billings said she had difficulty finding information about Chiari malformation, and few of her friends and family members had ever heard of it. Billings' goal is to use her platform as Miss Red Rose City to raise awareness of the condition and share her personal experience with it. "It was shocking to me I got this big diagnosis but no one had even heard of it. I hope to educate people on the signs of Chiari, so people can find it before it's too late," Billings said.

Krier, Ridler, Roe and Davis were awarded the titles of Miss Heart of Lancaster, Miss Red Rose City's Teen, Miss Heart of Lancaster's Teen and Miss Lancaster County's Teen, respectively.

The scholarship contest is coordinated by the Miss Lancaster County Scholarship Organization. The program seeks to empower young women across the nation by providing them with a platform to share their input on critical topics and hone various leadership skills as they compete for scholarship awards.

For more information, visit http://www.misslancasterco.org.