Crowns, ball gowns, makeup and pretty faces are some of the things that come to people’s minds when they hear the word “pageant,” but for one Weber State University student the word means much more.

Everything started when Abbigale Williams was working with her piano teacher on a song that she needed to perform, but she did not have a performance venue. Afterwards she thought about performing in a pageant and soon enough she signed up for the Miss Kaysville/Fruit Heights scholarship pageant.

Williams, a WSU communication major, became queen of the Miss Kaysville/Fruit Heights scholarship pageant, which is affiliated with the Miss America organization.

“My pageant was not originally affiliated with the Miss America program, and when I was crowned, I told my director that I wanted to be affiliated,” said Williams. “I believed it was very important because the Miss America organization does so much good that I wanted to be a part of that.”

According to the Miss Kaysville/Fruit Heights scholarship pageant website, this pageant is a service-oriented program that features young women who want to participate and make a difference within their community.

“Our pageant is service oriented, everything that they do (the queen and her royalty) is around service,” Anna Auger, director of Miss Kaysville/ Fruit Heights pageant and former queen, said.

Williams has many responsibilities as the queen. One of them is to make a fundraiser for the city as well as raise money for the pageant.

“I also have scheduled events that the city wants me to be at and at these events it’s all about service, and I love that,” said Williams.

Williams and her royalty help the city by designating a day to pick up trash. Williams and her team are also going to aid the city on its annual Easter egg hunt by hiding the eggs.

“I always wondered who did all that extra stuff and now I know it—the queen,” said Williams. “We are kind of the silent hands that make the city work. Whenever they need extra help they call us, and that’s why I think it is so important not only to give back to our city, but it’s important for the community to see that we are not just pretty girls, we are trying to help.”

However, Williams’ service goes beyond hiding Easter eggs. She is currently working on gathering 1,000 pairs of shoes that will be sent to Africa as part of a requirement to participate in the Miss Utah pageant.

“Each contestant running for Miss Utah has to have at least 1,000 pair of shoes,” said Auger.

This shoe fund raiser is part of the Power2Become organization. The shoes can be any size, color and style as long as they are wearable.

The contestant who has the most shoes won’t be the winner of the Miss Utah pageant, but the contestant will have the opportunity to travel to Africa and take the shoes to the children and people in need.

Williams contacted one of her WSU instructors to let her bring in a box to his classroom where other WSU students could participate and donate shoes.

“If students want they can contact me, and I can come to their house to pick up the shoes,” said Williams.

Williams said that she will be placing boxes around the WSU campus for students, faculty and staff interested in donating shoes.