Five Hills royalty reflect on year of service

Special to Leader-Press 

From Dallas to Austin to Hamilton to McGregor, the Copperas Cove Five Hills royalty and their families have represented the City of Copperas Cove across the state, accruing more than 5,000 hours of service to the community.
As the new year approaches and less than 90 days left in their yearlong reigns, the titleholders reflect on the tremendous opportunity to serve as ambassadors of the City Built for Family Living.
“It has been a lot of work, and I wouldn’t have it another way. When you work hard and see the end results, you appreciate it that much more,” Copperas Cove Five Hills Ambassador Dawn Hale said. “One of my favorite events was the Holland Corn Festival. Not only did we win first place in the parade, but the fun that the royalty and their family members have doing the contests of corn shucking, corn seed spitting, and corn cob throwing bring lots of cheers, laughter, and memories.”
Copperas Cove Five Hills Junior Ambassador Maddox Tobias realizes even at age 6 that the number of appearance opportunities this year is much higher than when he reigned as Miniature Mister Five Hills during the height of the pandemic.
“My favorite event this year is the (Lampasas) Spring Ho Cardboard Boat Regatta with my Mario Kart cardboard boat and winning first place,” Tobias said. “I am also proudest of winning Best Lemonade Stand for Lemonade Day with my Dr. Seuss on the Loose stand and raising money to help kids read.”
Young Miss Five Hills Emily Kimball said her favorite event was also the Holland Corn Festival.
“It was hot, but we had a blast bobbing for corn, shucking corn, eating corn, and much more,” Kimball said. “I also learned to kayak at the Lampasas Spring Ho Kayak races and downed a huge watermelon at the Hamilton Dove Festival Watermelon Eating Contest. One of the biggest highlights is representing Copperas Cove at the Texas State Fair Parade in Dallas in front of thousands of people as they cheered for our city.”  
Five-year-old Braelyn Liles has dedicated her reign to helping children in foster care. 
“Braelyn collected three shopping carts full of pajamas for Fostering Hope Bell County, raised $100 on giving Tuesday for Fostering Hope, collected 1,200 items to fill bags for foster children, and raised $400 to purchase bags for the items,” said Braelyn’s mother, Christy Liles. “At such a young age, she already understands and knows all about giving back to the community. We are grateful for all the experiences the pageant has given her through which to learn and grow.”
Hana Hendrix, mother of Miniature Miss Five Hills Haelyn Hendrix, said each appearance provided a wonderful experience and allowed Haelyn, at the young age of 4, to blossom. 
“Haelyn enjoys every opportunity to help others and serve the community, but says that her favorite appearances were the parades,” Hendrix said. “This program really is more than a beauty pageant.”
Junior Mister Five Hills Nathan Garner has dedicated his yearlong reign to Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful.
“I really enjoyed all the cleanup activities because keeping our community clean is very important to me,” Garner said. “I plan to continue working with this program even after my reign is over.”
Junior Miss Five Hills De’Ziyah Gilbert dedicated her yearlong reign to Copperas Cove ISD special education students.
“I held my very first dance for exceptional needs students. This was by far the best thing I have ever done and for people that are so deserving,” said Gilbert. “I hope that we have been good examples for others to follow.”
Preteen Miss Five Hills Dorianna Gilbert dedicated her year to bullying awareness.
“It has been very challenging, but in a good way. I set so many goals and was able to complete each one of them. So many unexpected achievements unlocked,” Dorianna Gilbert said. “This is just the beginning. I’ve grown up so much this year and became a leader for my peers.”
The titleholders have full schedule of appearances from January through March until crowning their successors on March 26. Applications for the 9th Annual Miss Five Hills Scholarship Pageant are accepted Feb. 1-Mar. 1 on the city website, through Facebook and Eventbrite.