Durango native Stephenie Riegel wanted to wear her cowboy boots to Saturday’s Miss Colorado Pageant but ditched the idea after she waded through a goat livestock pen and couldn’t wash the smell off her boots.
Riegel, 20, said she has a bruise on her arm she will proudly display during the evening gown competition to show she is a country girl at heart.
Riegel is not your typical pageant contestant. She wants to win the crown to spread awareness about depression and suicide and isn’t afraid to be herself.
Raejean Palko, Riegel’s mother, said when her daughter was little, she competed in a couple of pageants at the Durango Mall, but 4-H involvement took preference over beauty contests and became a huge part of Riegel’s childhood.
Palko said when you think of Miss Colorado, you don’t usually think of a farm girl who shovels goat droppings.
“She’s turning perceptions upside down; she’s always been a little bit that way,” Palko said. “She’s not a girly girl, but if she wants to do something, she’ll do it.”
Riegel said several people who were close to her in La Plata County died from suicide, and that’s what fuels her passion for education.
“I want to expand the knowledge of mental illness and show it’s OK to have an issue and to get help instead of standing back and making it worse,” Riegel said.
For her, depression hits close to home.
Riegel said she struggled as a teenager when her parents divorced, and she decided to get help.
“I had to deal with a lot and became a better person,” she said. “All of the negative turned into a positive today because I’m stronger and confident to be who I am.”
Riegel said her father, Gary Riegel, helped shape her into the woman she is today.
She spent her childhood and teen years traveling across the United States showing livestock for 4-H. She worked with the La Plata County 4-H for 10 years and said she loved her time in Durango.
The Miss Colorado Pageant will start Saturday with the preliminary round and Sunday with final contestants. Winners receive scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000.
kwalsh@durangoherald.com
