Miss Cardinal Outstanding Teen Meg Dimmett, left, and Miss Cardinal Ginger Slisher during one of many events the duo have attended together. Photo provided by Ginger Slisher.

By Laurie Lechlitner
Guest Author

FULTON — “I believe we’ve got to invest our lives into something that’s bigger than ourselves,” stated Ginger Slisher, Fulton. “When we work on developing our leadership ability and other skill mixes, we can go anywhere we want in life.” Slisher is serving as Miss Cardinal, a branch of the Miss America Pageant. This June she will be competing for the title of Miss Indiana.

“There are five areas of the Miss Cardinal pageant,” she explained. “The first is a 10-minute interview. Then there’s the social impact initiative. My platform centered around affordable housing. For the talent portion, I recited the speech: ‘So God Made a Farmer’ by Paul Harvey. Of course, we had the evening gown portion. Lastly, we answered an impromptu question that was tailored to each contestant.”

Because of her title, Slisher has spent a great deal of time with Miss Cardinal Outstanding Teen Meg Dimmett. “She won the teen version of Miss Cardinal. We had so much fun making public appearances together.”

If Slisher becomes Miss Indiana, she’d like to tour the state, focusing on her affordable housing platform. “I know affordable housing is a bit different in a rural setting than it is in an urban setting. Eventually, I want to lobby for legislature that will grant lower interest rates and laws that will help families own a home of their own.”

Slisher’s activities with Habitat for Humanity go back to her high school days. “I was part of the board of directors of Habitat my junior year at Caston High School. I’ve been with the organization ever since.”

As secretary of the organization’s board, Slisher does the minutes and sends out the agenda for each meeting. She’s also co-chair of the publicity committee and the affiliate development committee. She’s in charge of Habitat’s Instagram and Facebook pages. “I’m also involved in the fund-raisers.”

One of the principles Slisher is in total agreement with is Habitat’s stance on not giving a hand-out but a hand-up. “We work with people who can’t get bank loans and couldn’t afford the interest if they could. But they are invested in this project. They put in 250 hours of sweat equity, doing some of the labor. They also make to Habitat a monthly mortgage payment with 0-percent interest. We’re helping people start a better life.”

According to Slisher, the children benefit from having their own home as much as the adults. “They have their own room, a quiet place they can retreat to for privacy and study. They do better in school.”

 Always the farm girl, Slisher works as the sales director at New Holland, Rochester. “I started as an intern in my senior year of high school.”

This year she also earned her American FFA Degree. “I did supervised work with the boar goats on our farm, keeping records of the babies and feed costs. I love doing that type of work. It gives me a taste of running my own farm.”

Slisher is a senior this year at Indiana University, Kokomo. She’s double majoring in management and finance. “After my graduation this May, I plan to stay onboard to get my MBA. Eventually, I want to be the CEO of an agricultural business and also help run the family farm.” The Slisher farm specializes in boar and dairy goats and beef cattle.