Children and families spread out on blankets and towels at the Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach, listening to Miss America lead story time.
Cassie Donegan, sporting her crown, sat under a towering scarecrow and read “Hide-and-Seek Hettie,” about a highland cow trying to escape bath time. As she talked, the farm’s residents – chickens, geese, cows – joined the soundtrack.
Donegan is an arts education and accessibility advocate who now lives in New York City; the Smithfield native was excited to spend time at the farm. Her favorite part was meeting all the children.
“I just really hope that every time I'm with someone, that they're feeling seen and that they know that that interaction is just as important to me as it is to them,” she said. “I want to be able to hear them and what makes them excited about being here.”
Londyn Moss, 3, was visiting the farm for the fifth time with her great-grandmother Mary Phillips and was excited to meet Donegan and see her favorite animal, the goats.
It’s the second summer Hunt Club Farm has hosted story time. Each week features a different animal and a book highlighting it. Sometimes there’s a guest reader, such as Donegan. Families also met Starlight, a mini-highland cow who turns 1 in September. Donegan and Starlight, who had her own crown, posed for pictures after story time.
Donegan then joined families under a big tree to bejewel tiaras and color. Sharing that creative moment was special for Donegan, who said the arts were a lifeline for her as a child. She developed that into a career in musical theater.
“I'm the product of arts education, but I am the product of that because of other people making it accessible to me,” she said. “Everyone has the right to creative expression, and it's our responsibility to give children equitable access to arts education.”
It has become her platform as Miss America.
“This is a lifelong journey,” she said. “That's what's great about the entertainment world and the arts world is that we are very resilient and we're very loud and we're not going to stand down.”
Hunt Club Farm General Manager Sevannah Harvey said working with Donegan was a great fit, especially since the farm and Donegan are passionate about education.
“The farm was really founded on education,” Harvey said. “If you walk through our petting farm, you see that there's educational boards on each of the animals.
“It’s always just been a really big thing for us to get children to learn about where their food comes from,” she said.
Even Donegan learned something during her visit.
“I didn't know some goats just don't have ears. That was cool to learn,” she said. “If you have a crown on, goats will eat it. So, come down here. It's really fun. You'll learn something new. You will have fun. Touch an animal. Touch some grass. It's good for you.”
