Meet Miss Tri-Cities 2023 and her special mental health initiative

Jul. 19—After a year of representing the Tri-Cities, the time has come for Miss Tri-Cities to pass on her crown.

Noël Anderson, 2021-22 Miss Tri-Cities winner, placed third runner up in the Miss Washington competition earlier this month and received $2,000 in scholarships.

Anderson said she is going to take the next year to focus on finishing her degree in broadcast journalism at Washington State University before returning to the Miss Washington competitions.

And on Saturday, she handed off her crown to Hailey Fisher, the 2022-23 Miss Tri-Cities winner.

While giving her title away is a bittersweet feeling, Anderson said she enjoyed working with all of the Miss Tri-Cities candidates and is excited to see where Fisher goes with the title.

"It has been a pleasure to mentor these people. I've been competing for about six years now, so I definitely have some sort of expertise when it comes to competing in Miss America," Anderson said. "Being able to pass down my knowledge and to help these young women be the very best versions of themselves that they can be, it's really a pleasure to help these people grow."

New Miss Tri-Cities

Fisher, 23, started competing in Miss Tri-Cities when her younger sister entered the Miss Tri-Cities Outstanding Teen competition in 2016.

While Fisher has not placed in the competitions until this year, she has still felt supported during her time in the program. She said program manager Dot Stewart has helped prepare competitors for rehearsals, performances and more.

"It's easy to be a part (of this) when you know that you're really cared about," she said.

Fisher chose Creative Remedies to promote mental well-being for her social impact initiative. For Creative Remedies, she organizes classes and helps attendees with artistic coping mechanisms that tie art into bettering their mental health.

She chose Creative Remedies for her social impact initiative because since she was young, she has had direct family members who have struggled with depression, and some family members have died because of a mental health crisis.

"I've grown up learning how to help ... and combat those nights that are really challenging," she said. "So it just feels like it's been in my blood for a long time, caring about people that struggle in that way."

Through the Miss Tri-Cities program, she has more sponsorships than she could have ever imagined, so she hopes to organize more classes to help others improve their mental health.

Fisher said her talent in the Miss Tri-Cities competition was speed art, and Jessica Haas is a speed painter she is greatly inspired by.

She also plans to partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to join their "ending the silence program," which goes to middle and high schools to help parents, faculty and staff learn more about mental health.

Fisher received her associate's degree in 2019 from Walla Walla Community College and now plans to go back to attend the Institute of Enology and Viticulture, which allows students to have hands-on experience with making wine and more.

She decided to pursue the wine making and hospitality path because of her passion for customer service and working with people. She wants to connect both her education and role as Miss Tri-Cities together through her love of people.

"Hospitality is my jam, and I love interacting with people, loving people well, and I think that something, especially following COVID, we're lacking is feeling cared for as a community and as individuals," she said. "I'm looking forward to meeting people of all ages and expressing love and value towards each of them."

Stewart said Fisher was meant for the role of Miss Tri-Cities and is excited to see where this year takes her.

"She has the passion, the drive, the ambition, and she loves working with people," Stewart said. "And just her hospitality, (her) presence is wonderful."

Over $20,000 in scholarships were given at the Miss Tri-Cities competition. Fisher received $10,000 just for winning the title and received more through other areas in the competition, but has not fully added it all up yet.

Fisher said she plans to use her scholarship money for tuition. She has not worked out all of the details yet, but she hopes to use some of the money to take a course through the National Alliance on Mental Illness to become a trainer in mental health first aid. But, even if the scholarship does not apply to that course, she still wants to take that program this year.

Both Fisher and her sister took a year off from pageants, and she said neither of them knew what to do with themselves.

"It was exciting to come back full force, full gear and and everyone was so giving ... ," she said. "The community really stepped up and we're really thankful."

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