Four Buford City Schools students win national pageant titles over the summer

Four young ladies, who all attend Buford City Schools, made it to the national level in their respective pageant organizations and brought home the crown over the summer.

Bryxton Hansard (bottom left), age 6 and in the first grade at Buford Academy was crowned Miss Elementary America First Grade in June in Little Rock, Ark. Nine-year-old Lila Truex (bottom right) is a fourth-grader at Buford Senior Academy and in July, she won the title of America’s Ideal Miss Princess 2023. Buford Senior Academy fifth-grader, Haylee McCarthney (top left), age 10 won the crown for America’s Ideal Miss Preteen 2023 in July. Both Lila and Haylee competed at nationals at the Avalon in Alpharetta, Ga. Gabriella Peyton Canale (top right), an 11-year-old student in the sixth grade at Buford Middle School won the title of USA National Preteen 2023 in Hollywood, Fla. in July.

Pageants, especially at the national level are extremely competitive and to have four national winners from one school system in one year is rare. Each girl started their pageant careers by participating in the Little Miss Buford pageant. The girls and their parents credit that pageant with sparking the girls’ love for competing in pageants.

“Pageant culture in Buford is huge, but I didn’t realize it until we were involved. Little Miss Buford draws a lot of involvement from the community. The girls learn of this opportunity through the Buford City Schools. Once the girls experience that one, they often look for more pageants to try,” said Madison Truex, Lila’s mother.

“Everyone associated with the (Little Miss Buford) pageant pours so much of their personal time and dedication into making it a fun and valuable life-learning experience for every contestant,” said Myra Sharp, the director of the Little Miss Buford/Miss Sweetheart pageant since 2018.

The Little Miss Buford pageant celebrated its 30th anniversary in February as it all began in 1993 as a fundraiser for the Buford High School Band of Wolves. The fundraising event also encompasses the Miss Sweetheart of Georgia pageant. There are 14 age divisions ranging from Baby (age 0 months) to Teen (18-years-old) with two crowns awarded per division, one for each pageant. Between 130 to 150 girls participate in the pageant annually. 

“The Little Miss Buford and Miss Sweetheart of Georgia Pageant does not lead into a “next level” pageant, however, it offers a great opportunity for young ladies to compete at a local level on a full-size theatre stage with the option of an Interview competition,” said Sharp. “Many of our contestants move into Miss BMS, Miss Buford High School, and various highly recognized state and national pageant systems.”

Sharp added that in addition to these four young ladies winning national titles in 2023, numerous former Little Miss Buford/Miss Sweetheart pageant participants have won state titles and have been national runner-ups over the last six years at highly recognized pageant organizations such as Miss Georgia Teen USA, Miss Georgia Teen Volunteer, Miss High School America, America’s Ideal Miss, USA National Miss and International Junior Miss.

When speaking with the mothers of the four national winners, one thing they wanted to express to people who may not know much about pageantry is that it is so much more than being about physical beauty. They wish to fight the stigma surrounding pageants and that not all are like the television show, “Toddlers and Tiaras” which aired on TLC from 2009 to 2013.

“Since I didn’t know much about pageantry at the time (Gabriella was in her first pageant, Little Miss Buford), I just thought, ‘Ok we will do a few,’” said Ginger Canale, Gabriella’s mother. “But as I learned about different pageant systems and I saw what they taught these young girls, I was blown away!  The girls learn about community service and why they need to be a big part of the community, how to always be kind and be the person that makes everyone welcome. These girls are surrounded by positive influences and it just makes their smiles so much brighter.”

Each mother said that pageants have taught their daughters how to be confident and be effective communicators. They are able to handle themselves with grace and poise in stressful situations. The girls have also learned compassion for others and dedicate a lot of their free time to serving others in need. The skills they have learned have benefitted each girl in every aspect of their lives.

The accomplishments of each of the four girls are too numerous for one article to properly cover. Coming soon to Inside Buford will be individual articles on each of the four national winners from Buford City Schools.

To learn more about the Little Miss Buford and Miss Sweetheart of Georgia pageant, visit littlemissbufordpageant.com. Erik Mason is the director for the BHS Band of Wolves and pageant host. 

Featured photo: From top row to bottom row are Gabriella Peyton Canale, Haylee McCarthney, Lila Truex and Bryxton Hansard. The national pageant winners honored their hometown with photos taken at one of Buford’s most beautiful historic homes, 375 East Main Street. Photo by Alicia Payne.