Vying for the Crown of Miss Ashville 4th of July

Article presented by The Bean Foundation …

Eleven candidates have hopes of wearing the crown to preside over the 2025 Ashville 4th of July Celebration this Tuesday.

Candidates are required to either attend or live in the Teays Valley school district, and be entering their Freshman through Senior year this fall.

Kelly Spriggs of the Miss Ashville 4th of July Queens Committee says “Miss Ashville 4th of July and her court will spend a year traveling to other festivals and events throughout Ohio representing Ashville and the 4th of July inviting others to join us to attend our annual celebration.”

Maria Siers is the reigning Miss Ashville 4th of July who has traveled the Buckeye State for the past year with 1st Attendant Aubrey Helser and 2nd Attendant Rebecca Light.

The contestants will ride in the Opening Night Contestants’ Parade on Monday June 30 with the contest taking place on stage in the Ashville Village Park at 7pm Tuesday July 1st. Three girls will serve on the court as Queen, 1st and 2nd Attendants.

“The girls will begin their evening with private interviews with three judges who have affiliations with the Ohio Festivals & Events Association” said Spriggs.  “Following the private interviews, the girls will move to the on-stage portion of the evening at 7:00pm where they will begin with self-introductions and answer questions from a bio they submitted.  The field of eleven will be narrowed to six for the final round where the girls will answer an infamous ‘fish bowl’ question.”  

Vying for the queen and court are: Perseaus Mitchell (17), Layla Nutter (17), Sydney McMahon (16), Reese Writsel (16), Mallory Frabott (16), Kloey Arnett (15), Leighton Thornton (15), Ava Matthews (15), Carmen Hopper (14), Lyla Stinson (14) and Julianah Steece (14).

The Ashville 4th of July Celebration begins with a preview night on Monday and concludes with the fireworks display at 10:00pm on Friday.

Each year, the Ashville Community Men’s Club serves approximately 2,500 pounds of fried perch over the course of the five day festival, with the fish stand and midway rides open at 5:00pm each night Monday through Thursday and beginning at 11am on Friday.

The Opening Night Parade begins at 7pm Monday featuring the Miss 4th of July candidates and the Little Miss and Mister contestants and the 2025 Distinguished Woman of the Year, presented by the Ashville Women’s Civic Club.

There’s live music each day as well as after the Grand Parade on Friday, which begins at 11:00am. Friday’s music performers include Julia Neville at 2:00pm, Graveyard Pete and the New Appalachian Sound at 5:00pm and Tracey Roese at 8:00pm followed by fireworks at 10:00pm.

CLICK HERE for the entire event schedule.