Moose Riders to provide $500 scholarship for Five Hills Pageant

By BRITTANY FHOLER 

Cove Leader-Press

The Moose Riders of Moose Lodge 2029 of Copperas Cove return for the third year as a sponsor of the 8th annual Five Hills Scholarship Pageant, providing the $500 scholarship for the Miss Five Hills winner this year. 

Providing assistance for education and scholarships is part of what the Moose Riders, and ultimately the Moose Lodge, does. 

The fraternal organization, founded in 1888, has expanded to include charitable services through Mooseheart Child City and School, a 1,000-acre campus in Illinois for children and teens in need, and Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community in Florida for senior citizens.  

For members of the Copperas Cove Moose Lodge 2029, helping out local organizations is just as important. For years, members of the Moose Lodge joined together and raised money to provide stuffed animals for the annual Holiday Bear Stuffing Party for Exceptional Needs Students at Bearables on Main Street, where 100 CCISD Special Education students received a stuffed animal free of charge during the holiday season. 

When Bearables closed down and the event ended, the Moose Riders were told of the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant as an alternative charitable effort to donate towards.

“We looked at that and we’re like, ‘Yes, definitely,’ because we love to do community stuff,” said Moose Riders Secretary Debbie Pomato. “That’s what we’re about. We try to give back to our community.”

Moose Riders Vice President Chris Yarbrough explained that the Moose Riders has donated $500 to the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant for the past three years and has also started supporting the younger titleholders in their efforts to collect soda can tabs to donate to the Ronald McDonald House in Temple and help pay for the building’s utilities. 

Due to COVID, the Moose Riders were unable to collect soda tabs and donate to 2020 Tiny Mister Five Hills Dominic Pollastro’s soda tab collection. The Moose Riders did manage to help out 2019 Tiny Miss Five Hills Isabella Cross when she was collecting soda can tabs. The soda can tabs add up quickly.  Cross collected more than 300,000 soda can tabs in one year, and Pollastro has collected 25,000 soda can tabs since being crowned in June 2020. This is something the Moose Riders hope to continue to support as well. 

With the scholarship donation, the Moose Riders are happy to know that the money helps the winner go to college, said Pomato. 

Yarbrough explained that helping kids go to college is what the Mooseheart charity does as well. 

“That’s our primary goal is to help kids in need to a higher education, so what Wendy presented to us is something we do already, and we like to support that event, get somebody to a higher education to support themselves,” Yarbrough said. 

Moose Riders President Derick Smith said that helping the Five Hills Scholarship Pageant is a way to pay it forward. 

Contestants select a cause that they would wish to support, and titleholders ages 9 and older are required to develop their platform of service for this cause. 

The 2020 Five Hills Scholarship Pageant titleholders’ platforms of service included: supporting the elderly, Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful, supporting the Copperas Cove community, Bling for Bravery (children with cancer), elimination of hunger, cards for deployed soldiers, student hunger with the Weekend Backpack Program, supporting hospitalized patients and veterans, autism awareness, music education in schools, recycling, female youth mentorship and elderly assistance. 

“It makes us feel good because we’re not the only ones who are helping others, so it makes us feel proud that we’re helping, and there’s others who are also helping,” Smith said. “It makes us feel good giving back to the community.”

The Five Hills Scholarship Pageant will award more than $100,000 in college scholarships and prizes, with each contestant over the age of 9 walking away with at least $400 in prizes and contestants under age 9 walking away with prizes worth $250. The prizes include gift certificates to local restaurants, salons, fitness facilities, gymnastic and martial arts studios and more.

This year’s pageant will take place at the Copperas Cove Civic Center on March 27, starting at 1 p.m.