Schaumburg crowns Miss Septemberfest 2016
Danielle Trybus, a senior at Schaumburg High School who's captain of the varsity poms squad and a member of the track team, added another line to her resume Friday by being crowned Miss Septemberfest 2016 for her hometown's annual Labor Day weekend festival.
Trybus is involved in such volunteer activities as the Appalachia Service Project and Feed My Starving Children.
"I'm very excited to receive this amazing opportunity," the new Miss Septemberfest said. "I have so much excitement I'm shaking right now. I'd like to thank everyone in Schaumburg for this awesome opportunity."
Trybus was named the winner of the scholarship competition among the five finalists at a luncheon of the Schaumburg-Hoffman Rotary Club at Chandler's in Schaumburg. She said it was something she'd thought about from a very young age.
"After meeting the Septemberfest court when I was a little girl, I always looked up to the court and aspired to be one of them when I was older."
The Rotary Club presents Miss Septemberfest with a $500 scholarship, while the four other finalists will receive $250 scholarships as members of her court.
The Sons and Daughters of Italy also awards a $1,000 scholarship to the winner and a second $250 scholarship to each member of the court.
The other finalists were Megan Schneidau and Briana Zegler of Schaumburg High School, Shraddha Patel of Harper College, and Nikitha Lakshminarayanan of Conant High School.
The competition is open to female residents ages 16 to 19. They are judged on four criteria - poise, character, community involvement and knowledge of Schaumburg.
The five finalists were selected from a field of 26 applicants this year. All five will participate in the three-day Septemberfest by introducing musical acts, interacting with children and riding in the parade on Labor Day.
"All of these young women are highly involved in Schaumburg and have a great weekend ahead of them," program chairwoman Cara Mohr said.
• Daily Herald photographer Bob Chwedyk contributed to this report.