Gadient to represent Cubs in pageant

     She was needed. So Gabby Gadient stepped up.

     The 17-year-old Monticello native will represent the Monticello Cubs during the Dyersville Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament Queen Pageant July 31 at Commercial Club Park in Dyersville.

     “They needed someone, and they just asked me to do it,” Gadient said. “I didn’t really know much about it, but once I got some information, I thought it sounded really fun.”

     Gadient took part in a dinner and interview event July 23.

     “You show up and get your sash, and then you eat dinner with the group,” Gadient said. “It was really nice to meet all the girls.”

     The interview, she said, took about 15 minutes. She was asked questions about many topics: her hero, her greatest accomplishment, her hardest hurdles in life, how it feels to be representing her community, and more.

     “I think my interview went really well, but every girl that came out said they thought so too,” Gadient said. “I think it’s anyone’s game.”

     On Friday evening, each candidate will ride in a convertible around Jenk Field, and then be escorted by Little League baseball players to the pitcher’s mound, where last year’s queen will crown the new one.

     Gadient graduated early from Anamosa High School, then started classes at the University of Northern Iowa in January. She is studying ultrasound sonography, and will attend UNI for one more year before going to Allen College in Waterloo.

     This summer she is working at the Monticello Aquatic Center, doing data entry for Northwestern Mutual Insurance, and working mornings for her grandparents.

     She also is taking an online college course, and has started her own business, doing canvass paintings.