TEVELDAL, KNECHT CROWNED AS BRITTON SNOW QUEENS

    The 79th Britton Area Snow Queen Festival was held on Saturday. The senior and junior Snow Queens were crowned during the evening’s festivities. 
    Ava Teveldal, daughter of Kelly and Jason Teveldal of Britton, was named Britton Area Snow Queen. Livia Knecht, daughter of Katrina and Troy Knecht, was crowned Junior Snow Queen. 
    The new queens will compete in Aberdeen in the state Snow Queen Festival in January. The South Dakota Junior Snow Queen will be crowned on Jan. 3 and the state Snow Queen will begin her reign on Jan. 10 with both events taking place at the Aberdeen Civic Theater
    Four senior girls and ten junior queen candidates competed in the event sponsored by the Britton Action Club.  Paisley Bray was named first runner-up in the senior division and Corinne Bosse is second runner-up. Olivia Veflin was the first runner up for Junior Snow Queen and Arianna Gonzalez was the second runner-up. Gonzalez was also voted as Miss Congeniality by her peers.
    Other girls who participated in the Britton Festival in the senior category were Abigail Lee and in the junior category were Elsa Bosse-Faulhaber, Sage Bosse-Faulhaber, Caitlyn Casey, Kendra Kadoun, Maci Key, Ailyn Lee, and Alexys Olson. 
    Last year’s Britton Snow Queen Annika Tank, crowned the new queen, Teveldal. Last year’s Junior Snow Queen Chellon Pruitt crowned Knecht as well. 
    In a drawing to select the 2026 Little Miss and Little Master, Elizabeth O’Brien, daughter of Nate and Ann O’Brien was named Little Miss and Jackson Shileny, son of Tom and Bridget Shileny, was crowned Little Master. A total of eight girls and five boys participated. 
    Abby Christenson was unmasked as Frosty. 30 people correctly guessed her identity. Jenna Peters was awarded Britton Bucks in a drawing among the correct guesses. 
    Bridget Shileny served as emcee for the Britton Festival. Kristen Thayer, the Snow Queen Chair, awarded Tank with a scholarship upon the completion of her reign. 
    Langford’s Snow Queen Festival is planned for Nov. 30.