Young entrants from a range of ages competed on Saturday in the Miss Harvest Moon Pageant at the Ro-Na Theater in Ironton on Saturday.

It was the second time for the event, which began last year as the Miss Ironton Area Pageant. It was renamed to coincide with the harvest moon, a full moon occurring on Sept. 13, prior to the next week’s autumn equinox.

The winner of last year’s crown, Sydnee Shoupe, a 2019 Greenup High graduate, was on hand to crown new winners in each age category.

Taking the crown as Miss Harvest Moon was Madison Sheppard, a senior at Ironton High School and the daughter of Traci Turley. Savanna Spence was the runner up.

“I’m proud of myself,” Sheppard, who competed in last year’s event, said, when asked how it felt to win. “And I hope to encourage and inspire other girls to love themselves.”

This year’s princess was Alyssa Ratliff and Junior Miss Harvest Moon was Karley Ann Stephens, who won the title last year as well.

In the younger categories, Aydra Church was named Little Miss by the judges, Ava Cox was Tiny Miss, Natalie Vargas was Mini Miss, Paisley McFann was Wee Miss, Zaleigh Jo McGuire was Baby Miss and Javi Vargas was Mini Mister.

The event was hosted by Ironton aLive and proceeds will go toward the restoration of the Ro-Na Theater. Cheryl Cleary served as pageant chair and emcee for the event.

Sheppard and Ratliff will appear at the Harvest Moon Festival, set for this weekend, with live music at Farmers Market Square. It will start with introductions of the pageant winners at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.