The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Peony Pageant judges, emcee named

Peony Festival information

Judges and the emcee for this year’s Peony Festival Pageant have been announced. Judges include Walter Kinsey, Cindy Brandehoff, Emily Hart and Kevin Sandler, while Ed Gebert will emcee this year’s pageant.

Walter Kinsey is a graduate of the Ohio State University with degrees in education, marketing and finance. He is currently a vice president of advocacy, patient experience, marketing and public relations at St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima.

Kinsey retired from Macy’s Department Store (formerly Lazarus) as divisional vice president and general manager and held many retailing and marketing positions while at Lazarus, including merchandising and operational responsibilities, inclusive of human resources and customer experience.

Peony Festival Pageant judges and emcee include (top row, from the left) Kevin Sandler and Emily Hart; (bottom row) Walter Kinsey, Cindy Brandehoff and Ed Gebert. (photos submitted)

He has given back his time to various non-profit groups in Columbus, Indianapolis and Lima. Various boards include: Carmel Indiana Symphony, Lima Symphony, Allen Economic Development, chair of Lima Chamber of Commerce and Senior Citizens Board.

Kinsey is a former Lima Memorial Hospital board member and currently a member of the Lima Legislative Committee, Senior Citizens Board, Rotary, Star Spangled Spectacular Committee and the Mayor’s Stakeholder’s Committee.

He is married to a Lima native, Carolyn (Venturella) Kinsey, and they have two children: Jennifer, who is a speech pathologist in Toledo, and a son, Joseph, who is currently living in New York City and is with Barkley Financial International.

Cindy Brandehoff received her physical therapist assistant degree from Rhodes State College and a Bachelor of Science degree in healthcare administration from the University of Northwestern Ohio.

She is currently a full-time faculty member at Rhodes State College, where she is the director of clinical education and an instructor in the physical therapist assistant program.  In addition, Brandehoff is an on-site reviewer for the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) and also serves as an Advisory Board member for The Allen County Abilities Baseball League.

Brandehoff is a lifelong resident of Delphos and enjoys concerts, Broadway musicals, traveling, and any kind of football.

Emily Hart has been involved in pageantry for the past six years. She began competing in the Miss America organization and winning local titles, including Miss IPFW 2007, Miss Fort Wayne 2008, Miss Three Rivers Festival 2009, Miss Fort Wayne 2010, and Miss Heart of Indiana 2011.

These titles qualified her to compete for the Miss Indiana title, the preliminary pageant to Miss America where she placed in the top 10 three consecutive times. Hart also competed in Miss Indiana USA the last three years, where she as second runner-up, third runner-up, and, most recently, first runner-up in November.

After “aging out” of the Miss America organization, Hart spends her time volunteering backstage, coaching contestants, and judging at local pageants. Her next venture in life is opening a winery with her fiancé, Eric Harris, called Two-ee’s Winery in Huntington, Ind., this summer.

Kevin Sandler was born in Detroit, Mich., and now resides in St. Marys. He is currently the news director and midday host at WCSM Radio in Celina.

He is married and has a son and a daughter. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, watching sports and playing outside whenever possible, listening to the radio and to his favorite music and, after all these years, is still a Star Wars fanatic.

Ed Gebert is editor of Times-Bulletin Media in Van Wert. He recently won an Associated Press award as “Best Columnist” for his Friday column. Gebert has worked at The Times-Bulletin since 2006 and is also pastor of Mt. Victory Church on State Line Road.

He has a degree in telecommunications from Ball State University and a master’s degree in Christian ministry from Huntington University.

Prior to his current position, he spent 10 years working in the radio industry and 15 years running the family retail shirt business.

Gebert has three children: Devin, a sophomore at Bowling Green State University; Noah, a senior at Crestview High School; and Aubrey, a fourth grader at Crestview Elementary School.

POSTED: 03/30/12 at 5:34 am. FILED UNDER: News