A First for Wisconsin: Trinity Pesko Crowned Miss Czech-Slovak US 2024-2025

Trinity Pesko, after being crowned the national Czech-Slovak queen, poses with the awards she won.Photo byJulia Ourecky Photography

Never has Wisconsin, let alone the small town of Phillips, had a national Czech-Slovak queen until Trinity Pesko won the title on August 4, 2024.

Before that happened, however, Trinity was crowned the Miss Czech-Slovak Wisconsin State Queen at the Czech-Slovak Festival in Phillips, Wisconsin in June 2023.

She had a year filled with attending events and learning more about her heritage. Plus, she had to prepare for the Miss Czech-Slovak US competition.

Trinity shared, "A lot of the preparation I did for the national pageant was historical research. Both in the private interview and on-stage question portions of the competition, the contestants do not get to see the questions beforehand. Generally, however, we know that the topics of many of the questions are kroje-based (folk dress), personality-based, or history-based. I did a lot of studying and created many flash card sets on famous events and people in Czech and Slovak history. I was also convinced that because this year was an Olympics year, there would be questions about the Czech/Slovak Republics’ participation in the Olympics, but that was never asked. Besides preparing for any and all questions the judges might ask me, I also did a lot of work on my kroj. Throughout my year as Miss Czech-Slovak Wisconsin, I learned a lot about the folk dress of Czechia and Slovakia, so in anticipation for nationals, I wanted to make some upgrades to my kroj to make it more accurate. This included designing/sewing an entire new vest with my mom, buying new boots, adding more embroidery on my apron, and even changing my hairstyle, as different hair styles and hair accessories show a woman’s marital status." Trinity explained that different regions have different headpieces, but a hair braid with a simple ribbon denotes that a young woman is unmarried in the Trnavský Region. Other regions use flower crowns, giant bows, velvet headbands, or similar accessories. She added, "In most regions, a large flower crown with ribbons and sequins is used for weddings, a small white cap is used for married women, and a head scarf is used for widows."

Also in preparation, Trinity attended Czech Days in Wilber, Nebraska in 2023 to get a feel for the event in which she would participate in 2024. Wilber is a small town with a large number of residents of Czech descent who take great pride in their heritage. For this reason, Wilber was named the official Czech Capital of the USA in 1987 by President Reagan. The pageant is part of Wilber Czech Days, an annual event in August.

"Wilber, a town with about the population of Phillips, is overrun every year with festival goers across the country," Trinity explained. "To give you an idea of how big this festival is, they shut down Main Street and several blocks of the side streets for pedestrian foot traffic, and they hold three separate parades over the four days, each which last about an hour or more. The pageant is held at the Wilber Outdoor Theater, a theater that was built specifically to hold the Miss Czech-Slovak US Pageant. In fact, it is only open during the weekend of Czech Days."

The queen competition spans over the course of two days with Saturday morning containing a private interview with the judges, Saturday night being on-stage questions and kroj modeling, and Sunday night showcasing talents and the crowning of the national queen. Trinity participated in those events in August 2024.

"The Miss Czech-Slovak US Pageant is not a beauty pageant but a heritage pageant," Trinity explained. "This means we are not judged on how we look but our thoughts, feelings, poise, talent, and contributions to our heritage. The competition is broken down into four components: private interview, on-stage questions, kroj modeling, and talent. Each are worth 25% of our total score. The private interview is a nine-minute sit-down panel-style interview with the judges. The first three questions are the same for all the contestants, and then the judges are allowed to ask you more personal questions based on your application. The on-stage question category features three questions: one personality-based, one application-based, and one kroje-based. The application-based question is written specifically for each contestant, while the personality- and kroje-based questions are drawn out of a hat. For the kroje modeling category, we are judged on poise, knowledge of our kroj, accuracy of our kroj, and how our kroj connects with our family’s story. My mom and I made my kroj, so we tried to make it as accurate as possible, but we were able to add a lot of personalized details that honored my family. The talent category can be just about anything of our choosing, so l chose to do a vocal solo." Toni Brendel, the founder of the Miss Czech-Slovak Wisconsin pageant gave Trinity the sheet music for the song she performed. Trinity said she has been a singer for much of her lifetime, and she will be the new K-12 music teacher in the School District of Phillips this fall, so she wanted to showcase her musical interest and talent.

There was some time during Czech Days that did not involve events in the queen competition. Trinity said during those times, the group of ladies were in parades, visited with residents at the Wilber Care Center, introduced themselves on the main bandstand, and did a lot of community outreach. "It was an exhausting, but extremely rewarding, weekend," Trinity stated.

It became the most rewarding to Trinity when she was named the national queen. While she was waiting to hear the names, she said adrenaline was pumping through her body. "There I was, standing on stage with a fixed smile on my face, holding hands with the other girls as we were waiting for the winners of each of the different awards to be called, each award bigger than the last. The anticipation was building; in fact, I almost started crying before they called my name just from the suspense! I had to take several deep breaths to keep myself calm. Before they announced second runner-up, first runner-up, and queen, I had already won the Oratory Award, the Kroj Family Story Award, The Sokol Award, and the Grand Talent Award, so I was feeling extremely blessed already. Each time they called my name I felt more honored and appreciative than the last. When second runner-up was called and first runner-up was called, I was hopeful but still nervous nonetheless. Miss Czech-Slovak Iowa, who was standing next to me, turned to me and whispered, 'You’ve got this.' It wasn’t until the emcee, however, said, “For the first time in history....,” that I knew that I had won, as I knew that Wisconsin had never had a national queen before while the other states competing had. Nonetheless, I was shocked, I was crying, I was laughing, and at the same time it still hadn’t quite sunk in yet."

As the current Miss Czech-Slovak US queen, Trinity will be busy. "I will have many events to attend, not just in Wisconsin but across the country! Luckily, the Miss Czech-Slovak US organization is very accommodating and gives each queen a lot of freedom to decide what events she wants to attend depending on where she lives, her schedule, etc. My first out-of-state event will be on Labor Day weekend in Texas, where I will be attending Westfest, a Czech heritage festival in the town of West, Texas."

While Trinity will be kept busy with a year of appearances at events, Trinity has no current plans to enter other pageants. "Everyone keeps asking me if I will run for Miss America or Miss USA next, but I am quite content with my current title. This is the biggest honor I could hope to have received. I love this pageant system because of its emphasis on culture, family, and heritage preservation. While I don’t plan on running for any other queen titles soon, I would love to take on a leadership role in the Miss Czech Slovak US or Miss Czech-Slovak WI organization so I can help other young women who are passionate about their heritage get involved in this life-changing opportunity," Trinity concluded.

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