Village Teen Named Queen of Chicago Columbus Day Parade

Western Springs resident and 2012 prom queen Olivia Smaniotto, 18, was named the queen of the 2012 Chicago Columbus Day parade at a pageant in Addison on Sunday. LT's north campus is in La Grange.

The pageant is sponsored by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian-Americans, and features exclusively young women of Italian-American heritage. Smaniotto is third-generation Italian on her father’s side, and said she has always enjoyed Italian traditions like bocce and sauce-making.

Emceed by ABC7’s Ryan Chiaverini at Addison’s Alta Villa banquet hall, the pageant consisted of a runway portion and a question-and-answer session.

Smaniotto said the announcement of her victory came out of the blue. “I was in shock,” she said. “It was definitely amazing. I couldn’t believe it—I was just like, ‘wow, I did it!’”

Her duties will include appearing at several events, including a White Sox game and a festival dedicated to Dante Alighieri. The parade will be held on Columbus Day 2012—October 8—in Chicago. (Columbus Day is recognized by many Italian-Americans as a day of cultural celebration, Christopher Columbus having been Italian.)

She said her experience as prom queen spurred her desire to compete in this pageant, and perhaps further. “I absolutely loved winning the prom and having the royalty experience, so I went to the pageant and ended up winning,” she said.

“I’d love to keep continuing doing this, ‘cause it’s a really fun thing to do—there are really nice girls involved.”