Or at least, they might not be quite as beautiful as the other babies lounging in the strollers rolling around Monroe County. This is the general idea behind the annual Monroe County Fair Baby Contest.
Each year, dozens of babies are walked across the stage of the Draper Earles Auditorium to be judged by a panel of three local baby experts.
The babies must all be residents of Monroe County and can be anywhere from one day to 36 months old. The youngest entry this year was only two weeks old.
“It’s really hard with the smaller ones because they do look very similar,” Jana Manley, one of the judges, said. “A lot of times they’re sleeping, but some of them have a cute little smile when we talk to them, so that helps when they’re starting to show a little personality.”
Manley, along with one of her co-judges, Jacque Deckard, explained they’re qualified to pick the cutest baby because of their 30 years of professional childcare experience and the time they’ve spent running the children’s ministry at their church. Throughout the years, they have seen a lot of babies, but even with their depth of baby knowledge it’s hard for them to pick just one from each of the eight age groups.
“They’re all so cute; it is so difficult,” Deckard said. “I love judging because I love seeing all the babies, but I do feel bad.”
The women said parents do get upset when their child is not the one presented with the trophy at the end of the judging process. They get some angry looks as they walk around the fair throughout the day. Family members often yell and cheer during the competition, but the judges do not let the crowd influence their decision-making.
Little Carly Loeper, a baby with bright red hair and big blue eyes, was not a contest winner, but she did not let the loss dampen her day at the fair. She happily sucked on car keys and giggled with her mom, Jessica Corns.
“We always get compliments on her hair, but she gave the judges a mean mug today so that probably didn’t help us,” Corns said. “The contest is something fun and different that you can tell your kids about when they grow up.”
It’s likely the scowl did, in fact, hurt Loeper in the judge’s eyes. They said along with looks, personality does play a large part in their selection of the winners. The one thing they never judge is the children’s clothing. They emphasized not all attendees can afford the same outfits and they want everyone to feel included and have a fair chance of winning.
Looking back on the day, the winner of the girls’ 19-24 month competition stood out to the judges.
“She was just movie-star beautiful,” Deckard said. “She had a beautiful complexion and reminded me of a little Shirley Temple.”
Tabitha Troth’s daughter Morgan also competed in the contest. She didn’t win, but Troth said she enjoyed herself regardless.
“It’s just great to be able to show your baby off,” Troth said. “I still think she’s the cutest.”
