GREENVILLE—Lauren Wright, last year’s first runner-up in the Miss Annie Oakley Shooting Contest, won this year’s costume judging contest at the preliminaries Thursday night just prior to the opening of The Annie Oakley Festival at the Darke County Fairgrounds.
The daughter of Clint and Charlene Wright and a senior at Greenville High School, Lauren was eliminated the first night during preliminaries at the 55-yard marker, but was selected as having the best costume indicative of the famous sharpshooter.
In her third year of competition, Lauren wore her aunt Debbie Nisonger’s skirt and added appliques to it, and Debbie hand-made the scarf and boot spats she wore. Lauren, who described her shirt as “thrifted,’ obtained the metals and buttons she wore from family members and they included 4-Hand other mementoes to enhance her costume.
“My hat is a family heirloom,” Lauren said. “It was my grandfather Jerold Wright’s father’s hat. He used to be a ranch hand in Texas.”
The Greenville teen has had a lot of advice and coaching from quite a few men who took the time to show her how to shoot. They included her maternal grandfather, John Begoon; uncle and cousin Gary and Jessie Wright; her paternal grandfather, Jerold Wright, and, of course, her father.
“They all gave me help over the years,” she said.
By the way, winning at the Annie Oakley Festival is no stranger to her as she was the very first Little Miss Annie Oakley winner in 2010.
