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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County High School senior Alanna Cleckler may have looked alone on stage for the 2025 Miss Relay For Life Pageant, but she had her grandmother there by her side to help her assume the crown for the next year.

Cleckler was just 11 years old when she lost her grandmother to lung cancer. When signups for the Relay For Life Pageant came around, she knew she wanted to do it for herself and her grandmother.

Now, she gets to honor her with the crown on her head.

“My grandmother played a very special part in this pageant, and now I have a white ribbon on my sash to represent her and others with lung cancer,” Cleckler said.

The 2025 Chilton County Relay For Life Pageant was the first pageant Cleckler has done since she was crowned Junior Miss Strawberry Queen in 2023. It took her some time to adjust, and the on-stage question was the toughest part for her, but she settled in and had fun during it. She pushed through and felt good afterwards knowing that everyone now knows the story about her grandmother.

As the judges read the second and first alternates, Cleckler stood with her fingers crossed. She heard her name and experienced a moment she will always remember.

“When they called my name, I was so relieved knowing that I won and all the work I put in (was worth it),” Cleckler said. “It has really set in now and it has been exciting so far with the couple of events we have done visiting the news and the survivor breakfast.”

Cleckler had the help of Carlee Wright, a former Miss Swedish Queen, in her preparations for the Relay For Life Pageant. Cleckler found her sponsor, Pinedale Gardens, and she already had the perfect dress in mind — her senior prom dress. Cleckler and Wright worked through every aspect of the pageant together, and it paid off in the end.

“If not for her I would have been lost,” Cleckler said. “She helped me with my walk, my on-stage question which was ‘Why is Relay For Life important to you?’ She made sure everything was perfect, spending hours and hours with me preparing for this special moment.”

Now as the new queen, Cleckler has a whole year ahead of her to lead the fight against cancer in Chilton County. She is excited to visit the Joe Lee Griffin Hope Lodge in Birmingham where her and her fellow Relay For Life Queens will visit and serve food to families staying there while their loved one undergoes cancer treatments. Through everything Cleckler does this next year, she will have her grandmother there by her side.