Before this year’s Cullman County Fair competition, Vinemont senior Alexis Sartin had never done pageants. Neither had West Point senior 2022 Miss Cullman County Fair Heidi Armstrong.

Now, with a little help from the Cullman Lions Club, the pair is heading to the next level, each representing Cullman County in separate statewide competitive categories hosted in 2023 by the Miss Alabama organization.

“The Fair Queen pageant was the first pageant I’d ever done,” says Sartin. “My mom told me that it would teach me a lot of skills — and it has! I’m a little nervous, because I don’t have a lot of experience. But I’m feeling pretty good about it no matter what the outcome is. It’s going to be a good experience either way, and you learn a lot.”

“Before all this, if you would have told me I would get in front of a crowd and speak, I’d have said ‘absolutely not!’ echoes Armstrong. “But this has definitely helped me come out of my shell more. All of the skills you develop, like public speaking, are things that I am going to be able to use for the rest of my life.”

Sartin says she’s already learned plenty about confidently asserting her ideas as she gears up for a competitive season, complete with numerous speaking engagements at local and statewide events, leading up to next June’s Miss Alabama contest. “If I have a script to go by, I do really well,” she jokes, “but if I’m just talking off my noggin’, I can definitely improve. That’s why being a part of Miss Alabama is such a great experience.”

Armstrong, along with Good Hope’s Maddie McKenney (who finished the Fair Queen pageant as First Alternate) were born just a little too late to qualify for the primary Miss Alabama contest’s 18-year-old age requirement. That means Armstrong will represent the area in the organization’s Outstanding Teen category on March 10-12 of next year, while Sartin (the Second Alternate finisher at this year’s Fair competition) will head to the Miss Alabama competition the weekend of June 7.

This year marks the first time Cullman County has ever sent two contestants to the organization’s state-level competitions, and — as it did last year with Miss Alabama contestant Abby Sosa — the local Lions Club is sponsoring Sartin and Armstrong as they embark on a months-long journey of promoting their platforms (dubbed “social impact initiatives” by Miss Alabama) and bring their messages and skills before a wider audience.

“They’ll be helping me through the whole process,” says Armstrong. “On Dec. 12, I’m scheduled to go speak at a Lions Club meeting, and Alexis will be there too. It’s a great opportunity for us both, and I’m super grateful for that…I wanted to do the Fair Queen pageant because I thought it was cool — but I had no idea that it would lead to this!”