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NILES — A local organization is gearing up to celebrate 100 years of pageantry.

The Miss/Mr. Niles Scholarship Organization will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year with the 2026 Miss/Mr. Niles Pageant at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Niles High School. The event will crown the 89th Miss Niles and the 21st Mr. Niles. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and programs $5.

The annual pageant continues its mission of mentoring young women and men in presentation, communication and interview skills that serve to build confidence and life skills. A total of 31 contestants will compete across four age groups, spanning from 6 to 18 years old. When the dust settles, Little Miss and Mr., Junior Teen Miss and Mr., Teen Miss and Mr. and Miss and Mr. Niles titles will be awarded by a panel of judges. 

Chairman Madelynne Rotondo and Co-Chairman Chenai Gillispie have led the committee in preparing the contestants over seven weeks. Rotondo, who is in her first year as chairman after serving as co-chair last year, described the contestants as some of “Niles’ best and brightest.” 

“I’m amazed going through their bios and seeing how well-rounded they are,” she said. “They are scholars and athletes—kids who are in the math and science center, the National Honor Society, and those who have won student of the month multiple times. Some are even on the football team and hoping to be state champions this year.”

The Miss/Mr. Niles Pageant is affiliated with the Blossomtime Festival. Established in 1906, Blossomtime is Michigan’s oldest and largest multi-community festival. This year’s Blossomtime theme is “Oh the places you’ll see,” inspired by Dr. Seuss. Each Blossomtime community will feature a major city across the world, with the Miss Niles Pageant tasked with bringing Rome to life.

“We will be incorporating Roman mythology, the Colosseum, Roman pillars and ivy in our backdrop,” Rotondo said.

The pageant will be bolstered by Niles High School’s renovated Performing Arts Center. The venue, which underwent renovations over the summer, features a great new sound system, projectors and seating.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Rotondo said. “We’re very excited to get in there.”

Rotondo encourages the community to attend and support the contestants, noting that the winners will be active in community events like the Hunter Ice Festival and Apple Festival.

“Niles has consistently shown up and shown us that they are here to support these kids,” Rotondo said. “We are a scholarship organization, so any funds that come in any tickets that are bought that money goes directly to these kids to help them go to college or help them go into the trades and gget their life started on the right track after graduating high school. They’ve worked hard for the last seven weeks and they want to showcase what they’ve learned; they learn interview skills, they learn public speaking, they learn how to present themselves and then once pageant is done. We really get out within the community. We’re at the Hunter Ice Festival, we’re doing stuff for Apple Festival – not only things within the Niles community, but just within Southwest, Michigan.

“I would say to anybody who’s interested in coming to come and really see what it’s all about.”

Miss Niles Contestants: Bianca Martinez Sandoval, McKenna Albright, Alexis Garlanger, Kennedy Holloway, Izabella Ledesma, Gracie Jackson, Alexandria Gerrits

Mr. Niles Contestants: Beau Kirtdoll, Nathan Breland, Trenton Scott, Jacob Iwaniuk