2021 Miss Rain Day looks back on reign and service to community
Miss Rain Day 2021 Emily Bennett and Special Events Commission coordinator Athena Bowman share a laugh at the SEC booth in Monument Park in Waynesburg during last year’s Rain Day Festival.
Emily Bennett is the 2021 Miss Rain Day. (Submitted photo)
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The 2021 Miss Rain Day looked back on her year of memories and service.
“My reign has been overall just a dream come true,” said Emily Bennett, who holds the 2021 title. “I have always wanted to be Miss Rain Day after growing up around the pageant, and achieving that goal last summer is one of the best things that had ever happened to me.”
Not only has becoming Miss Rain Day achieved that goal for Bennett, it taught her to be more outgoing and improved her public speaking skills.
Bennett, 18, daughter of the Rev. Tim and Katie Bennett of Mount Morris, said she’s been able to have many different opportunities as Miss Rain Day that she wouldn’t normally have had, and it’s been rewarding to see the impact she’s made on the Greene County community, both formal and informal.
One of her favorite informal moments came a couple weeks ago while she was at a Wild Things baseball game in Washington.
“A little girl, who was probably about 6 or 7, ran up to me, gave me the biggest hug ever and went on and on about how she wants to compete in pageants and one day be Miss Rain Day like me,” Bennett said.
For Bennett’s service project as Miss Rain Day, she chose to raise money for Greene County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and by helping out with its annual winter coat drive and annual dodgeball tournament.
“This is such a great organization, and I am absolutely honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of it,” she said of the organization that recruits and trains community volunteers to advocate for the interests of abused and neglected children involved in court proceedings.
As Bennett’s reign comes to an end, she said it is bittersweet, as she’s excited for another girl to share the experience, but she also finds it hard to let go of a title she has dreamed about her entire childhood.
“I am nothing but proud of everything I have accomplished over the last year and can’t wait to see the next girl accomplish so much more,” she said. “I will definitely miss putting my crown and sash on and representing such an amazing community. I truly have been blessed this last year with the opportunity to make an impact on so many lives.”
This fall, Bennett will be a freshman at Waynesburg University, where she will be studying nursing and continuing her basketball career.
The annual Miss Rain Day Pageant will take place July 24.