In their own words: Former Miss Oktoberfests reflect on the role

The changing role of Miss Oktoberfest From CTV Kitchener’s Krista Simpson: Former Miss Oktoberfests look at how the role has changed over the years.

Everyone familiar with Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest knows that there are two people who symbolize the festival.

There’s Onkel Hans, the slimmer-than-he-used-to-be orange mascot who shows up all over Waterloo Region during the nine-day festival.

And then there’s Miss Oktoberfest.

Chosen annually from a pool of local applicants, Miss Oktoberfest is now picked based on factors including community involvement, leadership skills and public speaking ability. (Until 2003, the process was more akin to a traditional beauty pageant and attracted applicants from across North America.)

While the Miss Oktoberfest role only lasts for one year, many past Miss Oktoberfests say it has given them skills and experiences they’ve carried with them throughout their lives.

Most former Miss Oktoberfests remain actively involved in the community, and even with the festival itself.

We asked seven former Miss Oktoberfests about their memories of that position, and their thoughts on it now. Here are abbreviated versions of what they had to say.

Melissa Shadd (2003): I was the first year that there was not a pageant, but there was still a very large stigma around the title of Miss Oktoberfest. Whenever there's a title of Miss anything, there is still sadly some negative thoughts around that.

Lyndsey Ehgoetz (2006): I did not think that I would (win). I was honestly just doing it because I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice interview skills and be better with my public speaking. It was just one of those things where I thought I never would ever win something like that or achieve something like that, and I did.

Meghan Hennessey (2010): I really liked what the program represented. It was about women and empowering women, and connecting them with the community and professionals in the community.

Hennesey: If there's one thing I learned being Miss Oktoberfest, it’s that you will grow so much if you push your comfort zone.Being in that role you're constantly in situations you've never been in before, or you're meeting people who you've never met.

Ehgoetz: I learned so much about going into a room where you might not feel comfortable, talking to different people, having the ability to have something in common with every single person and trying to connect with many different types of people. I think it’s made me a more confident person.

Lindsay Kalbfleisch (2014): Being Miss Oktoberfest during the festival is a very neat experience, but it is a quite prescribed experience - you know what you're going to do, you know what your role is and what you’re supposed to say. There’s not a lot of room to put the boundaries on that.

Tara Hebblethwaite (2013): Ever since I was 12 I’ve been dealing with a very severe depression and anxiety disorder. So many people think you put a crown on and a sash on and a big smile and everything is okay - but we're just like the next person to the right or left.

Lindsay Coulter (2012): The connection that I made with the community of Kitchener-Waterloo is probably the number-one thing that I will really cherish about my time as Miss Oktoberfest.

Holly Pearson (2015): I think it is clearly an ambassador role and it’s definitely a role that exposes young women to board conversations and to leadership that's not existent elsewhere in the community

Shadd: I think that Oktoberfest and the committee has really done a fabulous job of pushing the fact that this is an ambassadorship role.

Hebblethwaite: If you take away that crown, and if you take away that sash, we still are strong women. We’re still independent women. We really are just people who are passionate about the region that we are in.

Coulter: Not only is the Oktoberfest family like nothing else, they really take you in as one of their own. Everyone just wants you to be successful and wants you to do well in your life.

Kalbfleisch: I wanted to intentionally engage the community in pieces of myself that don't necessarily fit your traditional understanding of what Miss Oktoberfest is, because I think that's the only way that this is going to be sustainable, I think we need to encourage a huge diverse pool of women in the community to continue to engage with the role.

Pearson: I think that there's some work to be done in the realm of innovation for the festival. You have to maintain the traditions of course, but definitely keep in mind that as the city grows, I think Oktoberfest should too.

Ehgoetz: Part of the main role of Miss Oktoberfest is to be a friend to everybody at the festival and create a good experience for everyone. I think that was one of the biggest things for me.

Hebblethwaite: You can be Miss Oktoberfest, this figure that everyone looks up to, but I'm the same as everyone else in the community.

Kalbfleisch: I very, very purposefully sought out opportunities to connect with community organizations that were relevant and meaningful to me and to make a point of showing the community that Miss Oktoberfest is not just a sort of waving, smiling figurehead during the festival. She's a community ambassador all year long.

Pearson: I would love to see the role continue to evolve. I would love to see it potentially opened up to men and women and be more of a youth ambassador role for the festival.

Shadd: We're out there making a difference, and you're out there contributing to our community and I think that's where we really want to focus.

Coulter: I think being Miss Oktoberfest is something that you come into with skills and assets that you can give to the festival - but what you get out of it is far more.

Hennesey: You never stop being Miss Oktoberfest. It’s something that is with you – it’s fundamental. I take that experience with me through my professional life and my continued volunteering in the community.