Broeker looks picture perfect as 2016 Miss Sweet Sixteen

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

Miss Sweet Sixteen is a childhood dream for many little girls who visit the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. The difference for Danielle Broeker is that the crown, sash and vintage dress are no longer a dream.

Broeker said since she was little she was always in awe of the girls and their dresses, but she knew dressing up wasn?t the point to the Miss Sweet Sixteen Contest. ?Honestly, to me, I find volunteering very rewarding and I knew that?s what Sweet Sixteen was about,? she said. ?I was really excited to go out and volunteer and when you put this dress on? obviously people say hi to you before, but when you put the dress on people really acknowledge you and talk to you and I love talking to people.?

Broeker, a junior at Mt. Pleasant High School, spent her youth looking up to the Sweet Sixteen contestants as she helped her mother photograph them.

But it may have taken some time for the enormity of her realizing her childhood dreams to sink in. ?I shook 10 times faster than I was already shaking,? she said of hearing her name being called. ?I can?t even explain. It was just really amazing.?

?I?ve been wanting to do this forever, and to hear my name called and to know that I?m going to be able to represent Mt. Pleasant?s Old Threshers thrills me.?

Someone who knows that responsibility all too well was 2015 Miss Sweet Sixteen Shawna Sammons. ?We are just as nervous for them as we were for ourselves last year,? said Sammons of the crowning ceremony.

Sammons said Sunday was very bittersweet for herself and the rest of the Miss Sweet Sixteen court. ?It was hard on me because it was such a great experience and who would want to give that up,? she confessed. ?But it?s good that I get to share the opportunity and there?s no one more deserving than (Danielle) Broeker. She really did earn it and I know she?ll carry my reign out. I?m so proud of her.?

Broeker said the best part of the contest was meeting and spending time with her fellow contestants. ?Those other girls are absolutely amazing. Getting to meet them all was very special,? she said with a few tears in her eyes.

But the biggest draw to being Miss Sweet Sixteen is welcoming all of the visitors to Old Threshers and understanding what brings them to the reunion.

?I think a lot of the older grandparents bring their grandkids here because they can teach them about what it was like. The older generation comes back because it?s a step back in time. It takes them back to when they were working with all this,? she said as she gestured beyond the family tent and to the steam engines, gas engines and tractors around her.

?When people come here, it?s not just them visiting, they?re adding to our community,? she added.