Due to a lack of interest, OH Student Council has once again cancelled the annual Oswego Pageant.
Formerly known as “Mr. Oswego,” the Oswego Pageant is a talent show arranged every year by OH Student Council where Seniors can compete for the title of Mr. Oswego. This year, Mr. Oswego was renamed the Oswego Pageant in honor of senior girls being added to the list of people that can participate in the talent show.
“Last year was Mr. Oswego, but this year’s Senior Showcase [tried to get] more people involved [by including] the senior girls,” OH Student Council President Melanie Imbronjev said.
The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 14, the start of OH’s Homecoming week, before it came to its end.. Although not permanently shut-down, OH 2026 will not see a Mr. or Ms. Oswego.
“Every year it’s kind of tough to get participants to do it…I think people don’t really want to do it because… they think they don’t have a talent or [worry what will] their peers think?” Imbronjev said.
It’s this attitude from students that led to the email on September 3notifying OH students that the pageant was cancelled. The change was unplanned, but not surprising, as similar cancellations have happened in other years.. It’s made clear, gathering a crowd for this event can prove difficult.
“This is I think our first time in like three years that we’ve canceled it. … Last year we had up to 10 participants, but this year, I think we only got like two and we need at least six,” Imbronjev said.
While it may seem like a silly, trivial tradition, the pageant in the past has brought students together, giving them an opportunity to plan acts and have fun.
“[The pageant is] an opportunity to have fun and not take yourself so seriously,” 2008 Mr. Oswego winner and Social Studies & Avid teacher Mr. Wilson said. “I feel like in today’s society, especially in school, everybody kind of falls into that trap of taking themselves too seriously. It was always meant to be silly and goofy.”
That lighthearted goofiness seems to have diminished in today’s world of social pressures and more intense workloads.
“I do look forward to [The Oswego Pageant] because you get to see what somebody can really do,” Imbronjev said. “When you’re walking in school, all we’re really focused on is our schoolwork and everything. You don’t really know who these people are outside of school”
Mr. Oswego has always been used as a way to bring students together and is a celebration to kick off Homecoming week. It’s meant to help contestants have fun and enjoy themselves, whether they win the title or not.
“I think it’s a shame it [didn’t work out], But we’ll try again next year,” Imbronjev said.
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