During the week of Valparaiso’s annual Popcorn Festival, the smallest competition in town takes place at the Urschel E. Pavilion - the Cutest Baby Contest. Nearly one-hundred babies were entered this year in the contest, but only six boys and girls made it to the finals, which took place on Wednesday night. The cutely-clad children made their way through the crowd and up to the stage to determine the two winners - one boy and who girl - who would be crowned the Cutest Baby.
The week prior to the actual Popcorn Festival there are many events held downtown and the Cutest Baby contest has become a community tradition within Valparaiso. The event is able to make its return every year thanks to sponsors like Cavanaugh & Nondorf Orthodontics. "The popcorn festival is a wonderful event that’s unique to Valparaiso. The Cutest Baby Contest is a fun competition, and we love sponsoring it because it allows us to be a part of the fun!" said Matt Nondorf of Cavanaugh & Nondorf Orthodontics. "I’ve been going to the Popcorn Festival since I was a kid, and I love the historic value it has for the town of Valparaiso, and that it has been bringing the community together for many years." The event has been going on for as long as the festival itself, and the contest is no stranger to many in the community. The Cutest Baby Contest now sees parents entering their kids, as they were contests in the past themselves. As a testament to how the contest has become a family tradition for those involved, Krystal Forney of Portage entered her daughter, Norah, in the same contest she herself was once in some thirty years ago.
“It is really exciting to have her in it and share that memory with my daughter,” stated Forney. “I still have my contest dress and will definitely be keeping hers too. The contest became a huge family affair with Norah and all of us getting involved to help her look her best. They all came out to support her. It’s a memory that I have, and I’m happy that she will have this to look back on too.”
Even though all the contest participants are winners to their families, only one boy and girl could be named the cutest. The judges of the competition had certain criteria to judge on, like their outfits and personality, but it was a tough decision regardless on who would be the winners. Jen Lyon, who works for the Special Education Services of Porter County was judge for the night, and stated that though it was hard to pick just one, it was a pleasure to be involved and to see all of the contestants strut their stuff.
“It’s going to be a hard decision, definitely, but it’s awesome to see all of the kids go up on stage and be at their cutest,” explained Lyon. “I haven’t done anything like this before, but I’m very excited. These are the top six and they’re all very, very cute. It’s great to see them get to be in the spotlight.”
The judges carefully considered every cute baby, with their parents proudly taking them on stage and letting the kids be their best. In the end two babies out of twelve were picked as the winners, and that was Blair and Owen. Their prize is a V.I.P. ride in the Popcorn Festival’s parade on Saturday, and for Kylie Melcic - parent of contest winner Blair - it’s one thing on top of a great experience for her family and Blair.
“We entered her because we knew she was adorable, but also that she has such a good personality, loves smiling, and interacting with everyone,” Melcic explained. ”We’re so happy she’s won and are very excited to be in the parade. This is something I’ll be able to show Blair in the future with the tons of photos we took and we’ll be able to talk about how she was the Cutest Baby. That’s something we will cherish forever.”
