Remington Nabinger and Roczen Vetor were crowned the 2024 Cutie Queen and King at tonight’s, Friday, June 21, Cutie Contest held in the North Webster Community Center’s gymnasium. Pictured from left is Amelia Beer, 2023 Cutie Queen; Nabinger; Vetor and Cruz Turner, 2023 Cutie King. Jaela Faulkner, 2023 Queen of Lakes and Hope Scott, 2014 Cutie Queen, stand behind the cuties.

Text and Photos
By Marissa Sweatland
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — Parents, family, friends and community members flooded the North Webster Community Center gymnasium this evening, Friday, June 21, to support their cutie in the annual Mermaid Festival Cutie Contest.

13 young ladies took the stage alongside 12 young gentlemen, each vying to earn the coveted crown and sash that would forever highlight their names into Mermaid Festival history.

The emcee for the evening was North Webster native Phil Metcalf.  The judges of the contest were Willadean Duncan, Hendricks County; Duane Harmon, Madison County; Christy Rushton, Madison County; 2023 Miss Elkhart County 4-H Queen Maya Narayan, Elkhart County; Jay Duncan, Marion County and Stacy Harmon, Madison County.

The judges were judging the cuties on attitude, cooperation, attire, self-confidence and appearance. Each cutie candidate was given a score from one to ten by each of the six judges. Once the scores were added up, the contests with the highest scorings were crowned to the cutie court.

The judges had a tough decision ahead of them. Each cutie presented themselves with poise, grace and big, big smiles. In the end, the judges agreed Remington Nabinger and Roczen Vetor were the winners of the 78th annual Cutie Contest. Nabinger, 7, is the daughter of Nicole and Trent Nabinger of North Webster. Vetor, 5, is the son of Acacia and Darrell Vetor of Warsaw.

Members of the court on the Cutie Queen’s side, in order of finish, are Rihanna Alley, 7, North Webster; Helena Dixon, 7, Warsaw and Joanna See, 5, Warsaw. On the Cutie King’s court are AJ Kimmel, 5, Greencastle; Gabriel Perkins, 6, Fort Wayne and Indiana Brown, 6, North Webster.

The Cutie Queen and King will each be awarded a $5,000 educational bond; 2nd place, $2,500; 3rd place, $1,500 and 4th place, $1,000. The educational bonds are provided and awarded in Memory of J. Homer Shoop, founder of The Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation, Inc. No cutie left empty handed as each child received a participation trophy to commemorate their hard work and try in the contest.

As part of the contest, the winners of the annual Cutie Parade, which paraded down Washington Street on Wednesday, June 19, were announced. There were three categories of entry: walking, hand-drawn and motorized. First place winners were awarded a $5,000 educational bond; 2nd place, $2,500; 3rd place, $1,500 and 4th place, $1,000.

Parade winners were:

Walking: Oskar Moreno-Elst, 1st place; Brycen Hershberger, 2nd place; Hazel Sedlemeyer, 3rd place and Carson Cotton, 4th place.

Hand-drawn: AJ Kimmel, 1st place; Julia Cotton, 2nd place; Mallory Maynard, 3rd place and Kendall Cox, 4th place.

Motorized: August Sedlemeyer, 1st place; Ace Richcreek, 2nd place; Brystal Bower, 3rd place and Wade Anderson, 4th place.

The Mermaid Festival will continue tomorrow, Saturday, June 22. The Midway, merchant and food vendors open at noon. The schedule events is pumped full of family fun, including tactical laser tag, Wheels of Agriculture game show and Power Wheels race. The Mermaid Festival Parade will begin at 4 p.m., followed by a demonstration by the Lions Karate Academy. The Queen of Lakes Pageant will take place at 7 p.m. in the North Webster Community Center gymnasium. To see a complete event schedule, click here.