Being a 500 Festival Princess is a trip down memory lane for Tori Chandler.
“My grandmother used to take me to the 500 Festival Parade and we would watch the princesses every year,” Chandler said. “I forgot about those memories until I was a freshman in college and my grandparents (Gene and Vicky Babinec) cut out a newspaper sheet with information on the 500 Festival and put it on my dresser when I came home from Christmas break. It’s a goal I started working toward, and then I was thankful my senior year to be accepted into the program.”
Chandler, a 2015 Noblesville High School graduate, is a senior at St. Mary’s College in South Bend. She will start at Indiana University law school at IUPUI in August.
Sarah Knight, a 2016 NHS graduate, is another of the 33 princesses.
Chandler said she is looking forward to the May 25 parade and Kids’ Day May 11 on Monument Circle in Indianapolis.
“I just want to get the community more active and involved and proud to be Hoosiers,” she said.
Knight is a junior majoring in health sciences at Butler. She said she plans to go on for post-graduate work to become a physicians’ assistant.
“I went to the Indy 500 in 2015 and I sat at the finish line and saw the princesses right across from me,” Knight said. “I looked into the program more and saw it was a scholarship, leadership and professional development program and immediately was interested. The professional and leadership development was what really drew me in.”
Knight was NHS’s student body president as a senior.
“I’m thankful (for what) Noblesville gave me because it’s prepared me for these kinds of leadership opportunities,” she said.
Knight said her Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sister, Anna Rather, was a princess.
“She’s been really supportive through the process and given me good advice,” she said.
Knight said she especially looks forward to participating in the Kids Day and Rookie Run May 11 on Monument Circle. The Rookie Run is for kids ages 3-10.
“I love working with kids,” she said. “A lot of my community outreaches have focused on working with kids. Right now, I read at a local elementary school, so that is kind of what I’m used to. I’m excited to see all the kids having fun.”
