Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Subscriber Login
My Profile
SpotlightNews
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Food and Recipes
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Food and Recipes
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Spotlight News
No Result
View All Result
Home Towns Bethlehem

Mini Miss Spirit USA 2018 raises money for Mohawk Hudson Humane Society

Ali Hibbs by Ali Hibbs
May 17, 2018
in Bethlehem, Community, News, Towns
Reading Time: 3 mins read

#EvelynRituno #MiniMissSpiritUSA #MohawkHudsonHumaneSociety #SlingerlandsElementarySchool #AliHibbs #SpotlightNews

BETHLEHEM — Evelyn Rituno, a third-grader at Slingerlands Elementary School and the 2018 Mini Miss Spirit USA, has been using her success on the pageant circuit to benefit animals and local wildlife.

Rituno, who began entering pageants two years ago, has now been in 16 altogether. She has won 13 local pageants, placed second in two and won her national title last summer. She first became interested in 2015, when she was with her family at the Altamont Fair and saw the Miss Altamont Fair pageant. Her mother Ashleigh looked into it the following year and Evelyn entered. She placed second and said she had so much fun, she decided she wanted to do more.

According to Ashleigh Rituno, pageantry isn’t all just “glitz and glamour.” The contestants do a lot of volunteer charity work outside of the pageants themselves. Rituno has done fundraising, appeared at numerous events and even sang Christmas carols at a nursing home. She is currently working with a girl from another pageant circuit to make dinner for the Ronald McDonald House, where she recently walked in a fundraising pageant.

While her mother explained that at Rituno’s age, contestants aren’t typically required to have a platform issue, they have been talking about it and, last summer, they found it.

“Last summer, me and my mom were walking and we found a baby squirrel just lying in the road,” said Rituno. “So we wrapped it up in my mom’s sweatshirt and put it under the wagon seat and brought it home. And we called all these people until we found one that took injured wildlife and she took me through all the steps until she could pick up the squirrel. After that I decided that I wanted my platform to be based around animals. Not just the cute and snuggly animals like cats and dogs, but like deer, squirrels, rabbits and so my platform is ‘all animals need love.’”

This year, Rituno decided that she wanted to raise money for the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society.  So, she organized her own pageant at Sprinkles Spa in Clifton Park.

“She thought of the idea and did it completely herself,” said her mother. Rituno chose Sprinkles because she had had a birthday party there and liked the venue. “So I set up a meeting and she went there and pitched her idea all by herself.”

“And then just yesterday, we brought all this stuff to the humane society,” Evelyn Rituno piped in with a grin.

She chose the venue, planned the event, and chose the prizes and crowns and color of the sashes. Sixteen girls competed in three age groups and a winner and runner-up were chosen, but every girl received a crown. There was a Charity Queen award for the child that donated the most pet supplies as well as other optional awards.

Rituno ended up raising $548 and collecting more than 200 donations. And she doesn’t plan on stopping there.

This summer, she said she’s going to look into doing a dog-walking service to raise money for the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, but said she’s definitely also interested in directing more pageants, “because that was really fun!”

Rituno plans to continue entering pageants for the foreseeable future. While she will have to give up her national title this summer, she intends to run for the state title and return to the nationals next year. And, in between the national competitions, there are countless local and fair pageants she can enter.

“She does all natural pageants,” said Rituno’s mother. “She doesn’t do the fake spray tans or the fake teeth. It’s not Toddlers in Tiaras. It’s all based on poise and how you present yourself. The national one is based on volunteer work and stuff like that and what you do in your community.”

Rituno does have a lot of tiaras, though. “A lot,” she said. “I can’t even count. I have a lot of crowns and sashes.”

While Evelyn says her favorite part of it all is making friends, she also likes being on stage. Next year, she’s excited to begin acting classes.

“I think that’s what she’s really hoping to get out of pageants,” said her mother, explaining that it’s a good stepping stone to other performance-based careers.

“Because you have to talk a lot,” explained the eight-year-old.

Tags: Mini Miss Spirit USASlingerlands Elementary School
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

Willow Baer takes second seat on Bethlehem Board of Education

Next Post

Mary Falace-Mayr settling in as Colonie court clerk

Leave Comment

Stay Connected with Us

Recent News

Letters to the Editor: Support for beleaguered coach

August 7, 2022

Bond over cooking

August 7, 2022

Steps to beat cooling costs

August 6, 2022
Mason Witkowski, age 13, during the 2021 youth spring turkey season. I Paul Witkowski, father,

This turkey was harvested in Orange County New York

DEC seeks to help to report turkey sightings in August

August 6, 2022

Hot Stories This Week

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Ruth Whitman's grave at Cavalry Cemetery in Glenmont. (Jim Franco/Spotlight News)

UPDATE: Colonie police exhume body of 1959 murder victim

August 2, 2022
Ruth Whitman's grave in the Cavalry Cemetery in Glenmont. (Jim Franco / Spotlight News)

Colonie police to exhume 1959 murder victim

August 1, 2022

Bethlehem awarded 1.5 million grant to build multi-use path along Slingerlands’ Cherry Avenue Extension

August 3, 2022
The Albany County Legislature (Spotlight file photo)

Albany County lifts residency requirement

August 4, 2022

Letters to the Editor: Support for beleaguered coach

August 7, 2022

Bond over cooking

August 7, 2022

Steps to beat cooling costs

August 6, 2022
Mason Witkowski, age 13, during the 2021 youth spring turkey season. I Paul Witkowski, father,

This turkey was harvested in Orange County New York

DEC seeks to help to report turkey sightings in August

August 6, 2022
Spotlight News

Spotlight News, The Spot 518 and Capital District Family Now are divisions of Community Media Group, LLC. Our local offices are located at 341 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054. You can contact us at 518.439.4949.

Browse

Follow Us

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact the Editor
  • Employment
  • Our Team
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Spotlight On Business
    • Spotlight on Finance
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
  • Hot Spots Calendar
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Classifieds
    • Advertiser Login
  • Service Directory

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949