Peony Pageant judges, emcee selected

VW independent/submitted information

The judges and emcee for tonight’s Van Wert Peony Festival Pageant have been announced by the pageant committee.

Judges will be Sarah (Giffin) Nass, Dr. Greg Homan, and Megan Baer, while Susan Burchfield will again take on the duties of emcee for tonight’s pageant, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Marsh Foundation Auditorium.

Sarah (Giffin) Nass graduated from Van Wert High School in 2004. Prior to graduating, she participated in the 2004 Peony Pageant and was crowned Queen Jubilee XXIX.

After graduation form high school, Nass attended Moody Bible Institute, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical studies. While at Moody, she met her husband of 10 years, Christian. After he joined the United States Army, the couple moved to central Texas, where they lived and worked for five years.

Upon his discharge, the couple moved to Indonesia, where they lived and worked the last four years as missionaries and entrepreneurs. While her husband operated a business to help Indonesians find employment, Sarah cared for their children and volunteered at a local safe house for children at risk for human trafficking.

She considers her most important job to be raising their three active and adorable boys, ages 5, 2½, and 5 months. Nass and her family have recently repatriated back to the U.S. and are settling down in Indianapolis, Indiana.

When she isn’t corralling kids, she enjoys lattes, conversations with friends, meeting people from other cultures, and finding time to complete her favorite Pinterest projects.

Dr. Greg Homan and his wife, Lori, reside in Coldwater with their seven children. Homan is a graduate of Ohio State University, earning his doctorate in human and community development. He began his career working for the Ohio State University Extension as a county 4-H Extension agent in Van Wert County from 1996-2007.

Since 2007, he has served as professor of organizational leadership and agriculture at Wright State University’s Lake Campus in Celina, establishing new degree programs in agriculture for western Ohio residents.

In 2015, he was elected to his first term as Mercer County commissioner.

 

Megan Baer, a native of Wadsworth, is new to the Van Wert area. She and her husband, Jesse, family here with their family this fall.

Baer is the proud mother of three beautiful children: Adam, 5; Paige, 3; and Leslie, 1. She has been involved in the arts most of her life. She has played the piano for 20 years and also plays the trumpet. She has starred in multiple productions, including the role of the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Funny Girl, Annie Get Your Gun and a myriad of other plays and productions. She has sung with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall as a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus.

In college, she was accepted into Capital University’s Conservatory of Music, and, in 2010, graduated with a fine arts degree Columbus State University. She began work as worship leader at The River church in Delaware six years ago and now leads worship services here in Van Wert at Trinity Friends Church.

She also has been giving piano lessons for seven years and now works at The Bachwell in downtown Van Wert.

Susan Burchfield is a licensed professional clinical counselor who has a private practice office located at 1054 S. Washington St. in Van Wert. She provides individual, martial, family, child, and adolescent counseling.

Burchfield is also a certified mediator through the Supreme Court of Ohio and co-creator of the A-OK (Assisting Our Kids) program. A-OK assists parents in developing a co-parenting business relationship when they no longer live in the same house. The program is offered in nine counties in northwest Ohio or online at www.assistingourkids.com.

Burchfield is married to Van Wert County Common Pleas Judge Martin Burchfield and they have two children: a son, Will, and a daughter, Alex.

Burchfield enjoys dancing, reading, and playing in the Praise Band at First United Methodist Church and being a member of the Van Wert Optimist Club.

“This is my fourth year of having this wonderful opportunity and I am really looking forward to the pageant.” Burchfield said. “I encourage everyone to come out on April 1 for this enjoyable and entertaining event!”