GALLIPOLIS - Maddison Maynard is the 2008 Junior Miss of the Gallipolis River Recreation Festival, and Michaela Drummond was named the first runnerup at the conclusion of the annual pageant, one of the first top events of the festival's 43rd edition.

The 12-year-old daughter of Jeff and Wendy Maynard of Gallipolis, Maynard will be a seventh grader at Gallia Academy Junior High School this fall. She is a team gymnast at Will Power Tumbling of Gallipolis, where she is currently a Level 7 gymnast and member of the Power Tumbling Team.

Active in 4-H, Maynard showws lambs at the Gallia County Junior Fair.

Asked by master of ceremonies Melvin Biars how her friends would describe her, Maynard said her friends would say she is “a very hyper, energetic person, always ready to do something, but they would also describe me as a loving and caring person.”

Drummond, the 12-year-old daughter of Mike and Danielle Drummond of Gallipolis, will also attend Gallia Academy's junior high this fall. She is a recent graduate of Green Elementary School, where she won the Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence.

Among numerous other accomplishments, Drummond plays softball and shows market hogs at the fair.

Asked which individual has had the most influence on her, Drummond cited her mother.

“She is the person who stands beside you, no matter what,” she said. “God can't be everywhere, so that's why He created mothers.”

The other contestants included Maggie Bostic, daughter of Brett and Tiffini Bostic; Michaela Hall, daughter of Matt and Eileen Hall; Amy Ours, daughter of Max and Julie Ours; Paige Sanders, daughter of April and Nathan Sanders; Jennifer Stump, daughter of Tracy and Patti Stump; and Elizabeth Thompson, daughter of Mark and Kim Thompson.

Josie Vanco, the 2007 Junior Miss, told the audience that holding the title and representing the festival around the area “has been such an experience. Becoming a queen has made me more responsible and a better person.”

Junior Miss and the queen pageant were both moved to the Family Life Center of the First Church of the Nazarene when an early evening rain storm swept through the area . Festival organizers chose to move the pageants off the main stage at the City Park to the church auditorium for safety reasons.

The pageants were preceded by a queen's parade downtown and an opening ceremony in which Ray McKinniss, a member of the festival committee, cited the efforts of the committee, Festival Chairman Jimmy Wiseman and all volunteers for making the event a reality.

“This weekend is the culimination of of a lot of hard work by a lot of people,” he said.

Today's events include the Baby Tot Sparkler and Little Miss and Mr. Firecracker contests in the morning, a live auction at 4 p.m. and a perfomance by Bill Hawks at 5:30. The annual Rotary Mile is at 6:30 and the Independence Day parade kicks off at 7. Entertainment on the main stage includes Tuff E Nuff at 8:30 and 12 Gauge at 10.

Saturday, Kids Day in the City Park, will also feature several gospel artists from 3:30 to 8 p.m., Sonic Sledge at 8:30 p.m., fireworks at 10 and Strange Kandy on the main stage at 10:30.