COLLINSVILLE, Va. (rbs news now) — Emily Vaught reclaimed the Miss Henry County Fair title on May 31, winning the crown for a second time at the annual pageant held at the Henry County Recreation Center in Collinsville.

Vaught, who first won the title in 2022, will now serve as the official ambassador of the Henry County Fair and will represent the county at the Miss Virginia Association of Fairs Pageant in January 2026.

“The last time I had this title it was my very first pageant, and ever since then I’ve been being consistent,” Vaught said. “I’ve competed throughout the years and I feel like I’ve gained a lot more experience than from just starting. So I’m very excited to take this title back to the Virginia Association of Fairs with all the experience that I have now.”

The Miss category, open to young women ages 17 to 22, was newly directed this year by JoAnna Scaffidi, a former pageant contestant who credits the experience with building her confidence and communication skills.

“I started getting bullied and teased and all of that because of having a learning disability,” Scaffidi said. “That’s when I got back into pageants and I found that pageants helped with my self-esteem, self-confidence, my public speaking—how to stand up for myself. So, I really think that girls should get involved in pageants just so that they can find their voice. They can be the voice for the voiceless.”

Vaught uses her platform to promote hearing health.

“My platform is very new and I’m very excited about it—it is ‘Sound Decisions, Strong Futures,’” she said. “It’s to help protect hearing in a high-volume world and help educate and inform others about noise-induced hearing loss due to amplification devices like our headphones and AirPods.”

She hopes her work will help reshape perceptions of what pageantry represents.

“A lot of people still have a very big misconception of what pageants really are about,” Vaught said. “The more that we can be out there in our community and show them, ‘Hey, actually this is what I’m standing for, this is the message that I want to reach across,’ it can inspire more of the younger generation to say, ‘Hey, I would like to do that too.’”

The pageant included multiple age divisions, from babies to adults.

“Having extra funds to pay for college is a tremendous help, and with winning Miss Henry County Fair, you do get a $500 scholarship,” Scaffidi said. “That should be an incentive to come and do the pageant.”

Below are the winners for each category:

• Beautiful Baby (Ages 0-12): Elliyanna Grace DeHart
• Beautiful Baby (Ages 13-23): Anazi Afaya Kearney
• Wee Baby: Gianna Itzel Rosas
• Little: Landyn Theresa Tarquinio-Kuhn
• Young: Cheyenne Savannah Owens
• Pre-teen: Nylla Tiana Hunnicutt-DeHart
• Junior: Kathryn Ophelia Shepherd
• Miss: Emily Vaught
• Ms.: Verna Rorrer Shepherd
• Miss Community Service: Sarah Jean Prillaman
• Miss Outgoing Personality: Mylaila Durham
• Spirit of: Emery Lynn Scott

The Henry County Fair will return on September 24 to 27 at the Martinsville Speedway. 

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