Nine Solanco High School seniors will be vying for the prestigious title of Mr. Solanco.

The Mr. Solanco "pageant" will be held Saturday, March 15, at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Solanco High School, 585 Solanco Road, Quarryville. Tickets may be purchased at the door. Doors will open at 6 p.m.

The beauty pageant spoof, a fundraiser for Solanco's post prom event, will feature Noah Bailey, Addison Beiler, Justin Natale, Austin Jarabak, Nathan Baglio, Garrett Grove, Nicholas Mohler, Braedon Bickford, and Carter Galbreath.

Mr. Solanco is a fundraiser for the seniors' post prom event. The prom will be held Saturday, May 17, at the Wyndham Lancaster Resort and Conference Center. The post prom festivities will take place at the Southern End Community Association (SECA) and will begin at 11 p.m. There will be group games, inflatables, food, and giveaways.

Mr. Solanco will begin with all of the participants performing a dance routine choreographed by Solanco seniors Emileigh Kreider and Claire Graybeal followed by a swimwear/beachwear competition, talent contest, formal wear competition, and question-and-answer session. A panel of judges will vote, and the winner will be crowned Mr. Solanco. There will be prizes for the first runner-up and second runner-up; Mr. Congeniality, voted on by the competitors; and Mr. Popularity, voted on by the student body and those attending the event.

Solanco High School athletic director Anthony Hall will be the master of ceremonies.

"The kids are putting themselves out there and having a lot of fun doing it," said the event's organizer, Carol Graybeal. "They realize what they're doing is raising money for their post prom."

Mr. Solanco is a beauty pageant spoof, but that doesn't mean the contestants don't take the event seriously. Competitors are practicing two or three days a week for 30 minutes at a time.

"They are really investing a tremendous amount of time," Carol said. "They are doing a great job. The dance is going to be phenomenal."

She is grateful for the competitors' commitment. "They're dedicated," Carol said. "Some of the students aren't in the building that much, but they're coming in for practices. They're taking the dance as seriously as teenage boys can take a dance. I'm happy with my crew."

"The post prom is a safe place for kids to go after the prom," Carol said. "The money raised (from Mr. Solanco) all goes to the activities for the kids to hang out after the prom."

The Mr. Solanco participants are excited to be performing in front of an audience. "I just think it's a fun thing to do to raise money for post prom and show my personality a little bit," Austin said. "It's been fun hanging out with everybody and getting to know the dance we're doing."

Nathan said, "It's just the group of guys who were joining. I'm friends with all of them. It's a cool group of guys. It's a blessing to do this my final year, and the dance we're doing is pretty fun."

Addison stated he is happy to be raising money for post prom. "This grade means a lot to me, and I want to go out with a bang," he said.

"It's been pretty fun meeting with the guys and trying to learn a dance," Carter said. "It's been an enjoyable few weeks. I'm not very good at dancing, but it's fun to try."

Braedon said, "It's been great working with all of these people. I will probably be more nervous when I am actually doing it in front of people, but originally when I started, I was worried about it. Now I just think it's going to be fun and I'm not really as nervous."

Community members can make donations to the post prom event by emailing solanco.postprom2025@gmail.com.

"Mr. Solanco is one of our biggest fundraisers," Carol said.