A busy year only gets busier for the Miss Carbon County Scholarship Organization. Recently, Miss Carbon County Shalyce Rauhala traveled to Ensenada, Mexico, for a service trip. With her return, she looks ahead to the Miss Carbon County Winter Wonderland Tea Party, which will be held on Saturday, Jan. 18. Rauhala stopped by the KOAL newsroom to discuss both of these events and their greater purpose for Miss Carbon County.

Regarding her trip to Ensenada, Rauhala stated,” That was such a life-changing experience. We got to go serve kids, giving them food, school supplies, toys, hygiene kits. We got to give them a lot and play with them and just hang out with them. And it was such a cool experience and it taught me that life is worth living and that no matter where you go, God is so good.”

As for her favorite part of the trip, Rauhala explained,” I think one of the things that just hit home was when we got there, it was very, it was hard to see at one camp. It was kind of, they had lice in their hair. We couldn’t hold them. A lot of them had no schooling. But I think leaving was such a memory I’ll always remember. I mean, kids were crying, kids were waving at us, giving us hugs no matter where we went. And I think that just touched my heart because no matter where you go, you could be such an influence on someone’s life, even for a short period of time.”

Rauhala then switched focus to the upcoming Winter Wonderland Tea Party. She first explained what people should expect from the affair,” They should expect to come in pretty ball gowns and hang out with us, Miss Carbon County Royalty. We’ll be in ball gowns as well. We’ll hand out little tiaras for the little girls. There’ll be Prince Charming. There’ll also be fingernail painting, face painting, story time and learning how to do dances. There’ll be so many fun events.”

For the tea party, tickets cost 25$ for participants and 10$ for accompanying adults. The money raised from this Rauhala explained, goes toward the cost of participating in the Miss Utah Pageant,” it’s going to help me go to Miss Utah to represent Carbon County. I would love any support I can get. And I think this is such a great experience to represent Carbon County and everyone in it.”

Continuing on the theme of Miss Utah, we asked Rauhala what the preparation for the pageant has been like,” I mean, there’s a lot. Miss Utah herself to this day works her butt off. And I appreciate that so much. And I look up to her so much. I think it’s such a big deal. So to even be able to run for it, there’s so much time and just things you have to put into it. And so a lot is coming up for it, but it’s going to be so exciting and worth it.”

In closing, Rauhala stated,” I hope I see all of you there. I think it’s going to be a great event and it’s going to be so much fun just to hang out with each other. And again, it’s for a good cause to help me represent Carbon County at Miss Utah.”

Registration for the Miss Carbon County Winter Wonderland Tea Party closes on Jan. 11. To register, visit misscarboncounty.org.