By Krista Tripodi
Parents finally have their chance to prove to everyone else what they already know – their baby is worthy of a prize.
BYU will have its annual Homecoming Baby Pageant Wednesday, Oct. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m., in the Wilkinson Student Center Terrace.
All Students and faculty members with children two years of age and younger are invited to enter their child in the pageant, said Valerie Shewfelt, coordinator of Campus Activities for BYUSA.
The babies will strut their stuff in five categories: best walk or crawl, best smile, best costume, most Y-spirit and the craziest hair, said Jen Kusch, BYUSA”s vice president of campus activities.
Parents who think their child has a good chance of walking or crawling away with a prize can enter their baby at registration drop boxes. The boxes are located at the WSC information center and the offices at Wyview Park and Wymount Terrace, Kusch said.
The registration forms require the names of the children and their parents, as well as an interesting fact. The facts will be read by the pageant”s emcee during the competition, Kusch said.
Parents can register their children to compete in up to two of the five categories, she said.
Several of the categories involve creativity on the part of the parents – including the costume and Y-spirit portions of the pageant, Shewfelt said.
“I”ve seen costumes ranging from BYU superfans to Halloween costumes,” she said.
Last year”s competition had 30 contestants. This year, the same number, if not more, are expected, Kusch said.
The baby pageant is a way to get married students involved in the excitement of homecoming, Kusch said.
“For homecoming week, we”re trying to include everyone,” Shewfelt said. “We want to get everyone fired up to have a good time.”
The pageant is one of the few campus activities especially geared toward BYU”s married students, Kusch said.
“We hope the married students will come and have a good time doing something different in a fun atmosphere,” Kusch said.
The winners in each category will take home gift certificates from local stores, including Toys R Us and Pebbles in My Pocket, Kusch said.
