The Cutie King and Queen for 2025 are Ella Warren and Bexley Oneal. The Mermaid Festival Cutie pageant was held  Friday, June 20, in North Webster. InkFreeNews photos by Phoebe Muthart.

By Phoebe Muthart
InkFreeNews

NORTH WEBSTER — Parents, family, friends and community members flooded the North Webster Community Center gymnasium this evening, Friday, June 20, to support their cutie in the annual Mermaid Festival Cutie Contest.

Eleven young ladies took the stage alongside nine 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 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 Bexley O’Neal and Ella Warren were the winners of the 79th annual Cutie Contest.

Warren is the daughter of Brian and Cara Warren.

Oneal is the son of Eric Oneal and Lakyn Holcomb.

Members of the court on the Cutie Queen’s side, are Joanna See, third runner up; Isayah Makinson, second runner up; Eden Hart, first runner-up.

Memories on the King’s side are: Alan “AJ” Kimmel, third runner-up; Indiana Brown, second runner up; August Sedlmeyer, first runner up.

The Cutie Queen and King will each be awarded a $5,000 educational bond; second place, $2,500; third place, $1,500 and fourth 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 18, were announced. There were three categories of entry: walking, hand-drawn and motorized. First place winners were awarded a $5,000 educational bond; second place, $2,500; third place, $1,500 and fourth place, $1,000.

The 2025 parade winners were:

Motorized: Ainsley Salinas, first place; Eden Hart, second place; Lachlan Dixon, third place; and Rhys Granger, fourth place.

Hand-drawn: Mallory Maynard, first place; August Sedlmeyer, second place; Nathan Cotton, third place; and Kendall Cox, fourth place.

Walking: Lincoln Granger, first place; AJ Kimmel, second place; Carson Cotton, third place; and Hazel Sedlmeyer, fourth place.

The Mermaid Festival will continue tomorrow, Saturday, June 21. The Midway, merchant and food vendors open at noon. The schedule events is pumped full of family fun. The Mermaid Festival Parade will begin at 4 p.m. The Queen of Lakes Pageant will take place at 7 p.m. in the North Webster Community Center gymnasium.

Shown are the queen contestants for this year’s Cutie Pageant held Friday, June 20.

Shown are the Cutie King contestants for this year’s pageant held in North Webster.

Shown are this Year’s Cutie Queen and King and their court for 2025. Behind them are 2015 Cutie Queen Jozie Mishler and 2015 Cutie King Cohen Tom.