BARNESVILLE - Each of the 21 high school juniors competing for the title of Greater Pottsville Winter Carnival Snowflake Princess carefully chose their outfits for the fashion show Sunday at Mountain Valley Golf Course to best show off their style and personality to the judges and audience.
Some wore formal dresses, like North Schuylkill's Taylor Lindenmuth.
"It was my formal dress and I love it," Lindenmuth said. "It's blingy."
Others wore more casual attire and a few picked outfits to stand out.
Brooke Miller, Williams Valley, wore her cheerleader outfit.
"That's my life," she said. "I've been cheering since second grade and plan to cheer in college."
Kate Chapman, Mahanoy Area, wore firefighter's gear, including her helmet.
"It's different from what everyone else is wearing and it will make me stand out," she said.
Chapman is a member of the Humane Fire Company, Mahanoy City, and said her parents were firefighters.
"My whole life I watched them do it and I want to grow up to be exactly like them," she said.
The high school contestants were the first to have their fashion show for the 47th annual Greater Pottsville Winter Carnival. It was also the first time they met the judges with a reception earlier in the day.
Chapman said before the show, she was less nervous after having met the judges.
"I feel I can go out and be confident and show them that this is who I am," she said.
Mary Ella Hallick, chairwoman of the Snowflake competition, said each contestant could wear two different outfits Sunday. The first was anything of their choice while the second was formal attire for the interview session.
The number of contestants in the Snowflake pageant is up from previous years as each school in the county was now allowed to send up to three students, Hallick said.
"Each school has a different way of choosing who goes to the carnival," Hallick said.
For example, Mahanoy Area students had to write an essay explaining why they would be a good candidate while students at Pottsville Area had to give a speech, Hallick said.
The next Winter Carnival event will be the Snowflake costume fashion show at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Boscov's auditorium at Fairlane Village mall, Pottsville.