DULUTH — Denfeld High School senior Maria Oppelt was not expecting to feel a crown placed atop her head as she stood with her fellow contestants on July 31 inside Mr. D's Bar & Grill. Oppelt entered the Miss West Duluth pageant with a couple of her friends to spend time together and have fun.
"We'd been practicing together the day of, going over the spontaneous questions and everything," Oppelt said. "But it's still kind of nerve-wracking when you're finally standing up there and the people are behind you waiting to crown you. So I wasn't expecting it, but I'm so grateful and I'm excited to see what happens in the next year.
" Miss West Duluth is a scholarship pageant sponsored by the Irving Community Club held during the annual Spirit Valley Days celebration. Contestants are judged on an essay, interview, a description of a casual outfit, a formal outfit and a spontaneous question asked on stage during the pageant. Miss West Duluth receives a $500 scholarship and Miss West Duluth Princess receives a $300 scholarship.
Oppelt credits some of her success to her answers to the spontaneous question and the essay section. She was asked what kind of local business she'd like to see in West Duluth and answered that she'd like to see another restaurant or community place. "I talked about how we need more places where we can come together and how, because I work at a restaurant, I always see connections being made while I work," Oppelt said.
"I like that we are more judged on how we can think on our feet and speak. It's a lot more character-based than a typical beauty pageant." ADVERTISEMENT Oppelt's essay answer to the traditional question "What do you love most about West Duluth?" focused on her family.
Her great-grandparents grew up in West Duluth, attended Denfeld, the same school as her, and shared many stories of growing up in the area. "I talked about how learning my family's stories have been super rewarding," Oppelt said. "How I can live my life and spend most of my days driving past these places that my great-grandparents used to pass on their way to work.
We've been here for the past 100 years, and that's just insane and cool to me." When she's not spending time with her family or winning pageants, Oppelt can be found running her cotton candy business at different events around the Twin Ports, a venture she started when she was 13. She works as a server in a restaurant and helps organize a yearly fundraiser to buy gifts for children in the hospital during Christmas.
She's captain of the girls' tennis and speech teams at Denfeld, president of the National Honor Society, a commissioner for Link crew and spends a lot of time volunteering at local organizations such as Ruby's Pantry, Laura MacArthur Elementary and the local animal shelters. What's her advice for anyone considering entering the pageant next year? "Be confident in yourself. There's nothing quite like the unique abilities that you have and just letting those shine through," Oppelt said.
"Take a couple of friends with you to get the most out of it. You might just get crowned with one of your best friends." Speaking of getting crowned with a best friend, Haylee Knutson was also crowned at that pageant on July 31, as Miss West Duluth Princess.
Knutson said she was happy to win with Oppelt because they've been close for a long time. "Like at the Huskies game, we were fixing each other's hair, fixing our crowns. It was just so nice to have someone that you're close with to have your back," Knutson said.
"We were so nervous before the pageant, but having friends there helped calm me down." Knutson is also on the Denfeld girls tennis team and spends a lot of her time volunteering at Raleigh Academy where her mother works as a teacher. Knutson said she also enjoyed the opportunity to show off her essay-writing skills with the pageant as she wrote about her perfect day in West Duluth.
ADVERTISEMENT "I talked a lot about my three younger sisters and going to the library with them, then going to Wussow's (Concert Cafe) to get a hot chocolate and stuff like that," Knutson said. Knutson said she also talked about her sisters during the spontaneous question and interview and that it helped her connect with the judges. "That's my advice, to share your funny or personal stories that define you.
I talked about how chaotic my sisters are and how we are together," Knutson said. "And I also recommend getting your application in early because mine ended up being very last minute. But if you do end up almost late, still turn it in because it might turn out wonderful.
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