Baby parade big hit with viewers, contestants
Article Photos
By JOAN JOSEPHSON
OBSERVER Staff Writer
Thursday afternoon's sunny weather was perfect and so were Michelle Harrell's Magical Poodles, riding serenely in a red wagon being pulled by Michelle to lead the 38 youngsters participating in the Chautauqua County Fair's annual Baby Parade.
Given the fact that none of the contestants was older than two and a half and many of them teething, their occasional lack of cooperation was understandable as they walked or were carried before the judge's table at the Arthur R. Maytum Family Theater..
This year's judges, Sue Polisoto from Forestville, Arlene Miller from Brant and Mackenzie Harding from Dewittville, watched carefully as each child came before them.
Having served as a judge for a number of years, Mrs. Polisoto said, "This has always been a fun event for me; our Chautauqua County's kids are well represented in this parade."
They ranged in age from the youngest, three-week-old Marla Henderson of Fredonia and two-month-old Antonio Figueroa of Westfield, to those who met the 30-month cutoff.
Seven-month-old Molly Grace Kelley of Fredonia, followed her sister's Natalie Noel's footsteps as a contestant.Natalie, now three and a half, walked with Molly and the girls' mother, holding the number card each contestant was issued.
This card was important, not only to identify the contestant, but also to obtain a bag full of goodies provided by the fair organizers.
Checking out the contents of Molly's bag, Natalie pulled out a teddy bear, a fuzzy hat, a fish and several bottles of bubbles.
When asked if she thought Molly would share, Natalie said, "Sure, I shared my things with her."
In addition to the goody bag, Molly was awarded the prize for having the best smile.
One-year-old twins Roger and David Markham traveled all the way from Falconer to take part in the parade along with the boys' cousin, Kaitlyn Markham, also from Falconer.
The boys, one with blue eyes, the other with brown eyes, were named the most opposite twins while Kaitlyn, pretty in a pink dress, was chosen as the most feminine looking.
The contestant from the farthest away was Vincent Sorell of Ohio.
Sporting a spiked hairdo, Vincent was declared the most masculine-looking contestant.
Other award winners included McKayla Lanphere of Sinclairville, named most mischievous; chosen friendliest was Mallory Dahlgren of Jamestown.
The most identical twins title was awarded Libby and Avery Miller of Fredonia.
The parade was over in less than an hour and, even with the confusion that occurred occasionally, it was a fun event for the participants and the audience, many of whom were family members who cheered on their favorite contestants
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07-25-08 2:02 PM
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While viewing digitized microfilm edition of the dunkirk observer from 1921 on ancestry****, I came across an article about the county fair for that year. They too had a baby contest. One of the catagories was family with the most children at the fair. Imagine my surprise to see my grandparents listed as the winners. "Mrs and Mr Paul Stelmach of Ball Hill Rd, Forestville with their 7 sons." The contest must have been inspiring because 9 months later, my father Leo, was born. He was their last child.
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