Contest finds 'beautiful babies'

The search for the "most beautiful baby" in the region began Sunday at College Mall. The contest, held by New Star Directory Inc., is a regional competition where winners and state runner-ups will continue on to Indianapolis for the state finals. After finals, contestants travel to Chicago for national competition.\nWinners in Indianapolis receive a $5,000 savings bond and the winner of nationals gets a $25,000 savings bond. Each participant in the regional competition received a trophy.\nThe regional competition in Bloomington brought about 15 children contestants, aging between less than a month and 6 years old. The competition is all natural -- make-up is not allowed to be worn. \nThe entry fee was $40 for the main competition, but contestants could also enter in extra categories such as prettiest eyes, angel face and most photogenic for an extra fee.\nThe contest also featured two guests of honor judges, Whitley Brock and William Steele, both reigning Indiana State Most Beautiful Baby winners. Brock won in the 5 to 7-year-old age bracket and Steele won in the 15 to 23-month-old boys. \n"I just went up on stage and waved to the judges smiling," Brock said.\nBrock first won Nationals in 1998 for the 24 to 38-month-old girls age group. She now holds the title as Indiana State Most Beautiful Baby and first runner up in Nationals. \n"As part of her reign, she gets to hand out the trophies to the winners and crown the next winners," her mother, Jennifer Brock said.\nBrock was also a judge for the contest along with Steele's mother, Mary Young.\n"We judge on how the children present themselves," Young said. "The parents can do whatever it takes to make their child smile, but we can tell if they are enjoying themselves on stage or not."\nChesney Hedge, a 12-month-old from Bedford, Ind., won Most Beautiful Baby for the 8 to 14-month-old age bracket Sunday.\n"She has won the Bedford 4-H fair contest before, and we came today and entered her in nine categories, four of them being photographs," her mother, Mandy Hedge said.\nChesney also had the most overall points for the contest winning a trophy and a $50 savings bond. She will go on to Indianapolis for the state competition.\nOther winners included Gracie Blouin in the 0 to 7-month-old girl category, Diego Pani in the 8 to 14-month-old boy division, Isac Abrams in the 15 to 23-month-old boy category, a tie between Virginia Howell and Allejandra Spear for the 15 to 23-month-old girl, Blake Fisher for 3 to 4-year-old boy and Ellie Jo Emmons in the 5 to 6-year-old girl division.\n-- Contact staff writer Katie Killebrew at kpkilleb@indiana.edu.