Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen contestant Sara Hale and her Little Miss Spat co-contestant Piper Gill joined together to support a cause near and dear to both their hearts, childhood literacy. Both Sara and Piper have been impacted by the power of storytelling and wanted to ensure children got the same opportunities they both had to fall in love with reading.
During the COVID-19 pandemic young children were deprived of vitally important developmental time when it comes to reading and many other facets of life. This queen and spat team made it their mission to give back as much as they could to help give these children some of what was taken from them.
Both Piper and Sara spent many hours in the library working with the summer reading program. Their time was spent setting up for activities, helping the children get settled, managing reading logs, reading to the children, helping the children complete crafts, cleaning up, and doing everything in their power to make sure this was a fun experience for the children.
Alongside a total of more than 42 hours in the library, Sara and Piper also conducted a fundraising event for the library. They presented a very successful bake sale at a Deltaville Deltas baseball game, where Sara’s brother, as a pitcher for the team, escorted them on the field and Piper threw the ceremonial first pitch of the game. Together they raised more than $360 in that one night alone. The community support they received was astounding to both Queen and Spat contestants.
Sara is now a senior at Christchurch School as a legacy student. She is a member of a school club for inclusivity, an honor council applicant, and student leader. Sara is a volleyball player, actor in school productions, and participated in her school’s dance program.
Sara’s post high school plans include pursuing a degree in English literature to become a book editor. One day she wants to own her own bookstore and be a writer.
Sara is the daughter of Dean and Karen Hale. She has two siblings, one brother, Justin; and a sister, Emma.
Little Miss Spat contestant Piper Gill is a first grade student at Middlesex Elementary School. She is the daughter of Rusty and Jamie Gill. She has a little sister, Bella. Piper loves gymnastics, T-ball, and playing games.
