By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

It’s Thursday afternoon and six-year-old Bristol Lynn Thompson is dressed to the nines at the Lynchburg Gazebo. She wears a tasteful light blue dress with a pleated skirt and sparkly teardrop blue topaz earrings. Her hair sits atop her head in a high ponytail with a four-inch rhinestone crown glimmering in hot June sunshine.

To her left sits a basket overflowing with crowns and sashes. I asked Bristol’s mom, Heather, to bring several to our interview for a photo idea I had. There’s the Petite Miss Bedford County sash and crown she won just the week before, and the Miss Sundrop crown she earned the week before that.

Over 100 crowns

Bristol lives in the Ridgeville community of Moore County with her dad, Dennis; her mom, Heather; and twin sister, Harlow. She attends Lynchburg Elementary School and will enter the first grade in the fall. When she’s not strutting her stuff on the local pageant circuit, she’s practicing gymnastics, cheerleading, or playing softball in the Moore County Girls’ Fastpitch League. Her favorite film is The Parent Trap — not the new one but the original 1961 version starring Hayley Mills as a pair of teenage twins plotting to reunite their divorced parents by switching places with each other.

According to Heather, Bristol started doing pageants at the age of two and instantly fell in love with it. She’d watched her cousin, Stella, compete in the annual Miss Lynchburg pageant and thought it looked like fun.

“The first pageant she did was a small one in Lincoln County the day after Miss Lynchburg,” Heather says. “I thought, you know what, we’ll just try it, and that’s been her thing ever since.”

Since then, they’ve crisscrossed Tennessee and Alabama to compete in nearly 200 pageants with nearly 100 crowns to show for it. That’s an impressive feat for someone who can’t ride the big rides at most amusement parks.

Fun and confidence building

Most pageant Saturdays are a mom and daughter event. Harlow, who’s autistic, doesn’t enjoy the crowds and usually stays home with dad. Bristol says she loves doing dress-up, especially in the fun fashion category because they get to wear capes.

“I just love to be sassy,” she says.

Heather says it took a little time to get used to the dos and don’ts of the local pageant scene, but now they’ve completely mastered it.

“The first year felt pretty hectic because we were just trying to find our groove,” Heather says. “I needed to figure out exactly what I needed to bring, and exactly how I needed to do her hair and makeup. I’m a hairstylist, but it took me forever to figure that out. Now, we absolutely love it. It is one of our favorite things to do.”

Bristol says she loves making new friends backstage, and when friends and family come to support her, but what really motivates her is getting a chance to show off her pint-sized confidence.

“If I get nervous, I just take five deep breaths, and show all my confidence,” she says.

A princess with a platform

Pageants may conjure images of sequins, make up, and spray tans, but modern pageant contestants — even at Bristol’s age — get a unique opportunity to show leadership in their communities. Just like adult beauty queens, Bristol promotes a platform. It’s a powerful vehicle for advocacy and visibility for one of her favorite people, her twin sister, Harlow.

When I asked her to practice the personal statement, she’ll repeat during the spokesmodel category at nationals, she takes a deep breath, steadies herself, and says, “Did you know autism affects one in 36 children? My twin sister, Harlow, inspires my platform. Verbal communication can be challenging, but I’m her voice, and biggest fan. Like peanut butter and jelly, we’re the perfect pair. I’m proud to be your Volunteer State Junior Princess Bristol Lynn Thompson Bristol.”

It’s a masterclass in public speaking and poise under pressure. Her confidence and sincerity ooze from her as she speaks — leaving me not only impressed but a little teary-eyed. A 6-year-old advocating for autism awareness can bring a fresh, authentic voice to a subject that affects millions.

An astronaut hairdresser

In July, Bristol and her entourage will be headed to compete in a national competition, the America’s Ideal Miss Pageant. She qualified by winning her Volunteer State Junior Princess title. It’s a scholarship pageant. If she wins, she’ll not only receive money for college but also get to attend both New York and Paris Fashion Week with other winners.

Should she take home the big prize, Bristol tells us she’ll use it to attend the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where she wants to become an astronaut hairdresser.

“I’d like to go to space, and see all of the planets, and be a hairstylist, and make people pretty,” Bristol says.

The pageant will take place in Columbus, Georgia July 21-26. Bristol will represent not only Lynchburg but also the entire State of Tennessee in the ages 4-6 category. She will compete in six categories: interview, fun fashion, evening gown, casual wear, spokesmodel, and fitness.

“It’s pretty intense,” Heather says. “She qualified last year but we waited an extra year before signing her up for a pageant at that level. She’ll need to stand backstage by herself and remember all these different walks. We thought she needed just a bit more maturity.

If you’d like to watch Bristol compete, the pageant will be livestreamed on the Pageants Live website. Or you can learn more about them on their Facebook page. •

About The Lynchburg Times
The Lynchburg Times is an independent, woman-owned newspaper rooted in the heart of southern middle Tennessee. Led by a Tulane-educated journalist with over two decades of experience covering this region, we shine a light on the people, politics, and cultural pulse of a changing South. From breaking news to slow storytelling, we believe local journalism should inform, empower, and preserve what makes this place unique. Supported by readers and community partners, we’re proud to be part of the new Southern narrative – one story at a time. [Support us here.]