Full steam ahead: Bituminous Coal Queen ready to pass on crown after exciting year
As the next Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal Queen Pageant draws near, 2025 Queen Emma Mihalko has been hearing variations of the same question: “Are you ready to give it up?”
In each case, the answer is yes.
Not because she won’t miss it, but because she feels fulfilled.
“I’m ready for another young lady to get to experience all the incredible things that I have,” she said.
Over the past year, Mihalko has ridden along parade routes, descended through the depths of a mine and spoken from the dais of the Pennsylvania Senate.
It’s added up to a memorable experience for the outgoing Bituminous Coal Queen.
Mihalko, then an incoming senior at Uniontown Area High School, was crowned at the annual pageant in Carmichaels last August.
It was an honor that left her “so shocked and so surprised.”
“I remember looking over to my parents who were sitting just a few rows back on the left side in the audience, and just seeing their faces and how proud they looked, and they had the biggest smiles ever,” she said.
Mihalko wanted to be a role model for younger girls like the previous Coal Queens and other contestants were for her. She’d gotten to know some of them through the Lanzi Dance Studio in Uniontown, where she’s danced for the past 13 years.
The biggest push came from Haydn Chipps, one of Mihalko’s best friends and the 2023 Coal Queen.
“I got to hear all about her year and all the amazing things that she got to do, and that definitely pushed me more into wanting to do it myself,” she said.
Though Mihalko had attended previous pageants to see friends, last year was her first time seeing the whole King Coal Show.
“There was a lot happening there, and a lot more than what I knew about just hearing stories,” she said — a carnival with rides and games, food vendors, bingo and an expo where people bring pieces of coal mining history.
Mihalko relayed her journey to becoming Coal Queen and the history of coal in the area during a trip to Harrisburg, where each year the queen speaks in front of the state Senate — the only Pennsylvania state title holder who gets to do so, aside from Miss Pennsylvania — and gets addressed by the House of Representatives.
“It’s a very big honor,” she said.
She also told the senators about her April trip to the Harvey Mine in Sycamore.
“It kind of changed my perspective on the importance and just how much the brave men and women who are our best put in every day to power our communities and everything,” she said.
Going down into the mine, the first thing that stood out was how much it resembled the Big Thunder Mountain ride, said Mihalko, whose family often goes to Disney World for vacation.
She marveled at the high-speed elevator that took them far below the ground, and the level of technology they’d built up down there.
Mihalko was also struck by features that were commonplace, but still unexpected — the car shop for the man trams, and mechanics on site servicing them.
“It’s little things like that that make so much sense they were there, but you don’t really think about,” she said.
Most often, the public saw Mihalko when she was attending parades and festivals in both Greene and Fayette counties.
When she became queen, Mihalko told her parents she wanted to be sure to expand her knowledge of the area. Even living close by in Uniontown, Mihalko hadn’t realized how many festivals and public events Greene County had.
“What better opportunity than now to take the time to just go explore Greene County, see what all community events that they have?” she said. “Greene County really is such a tight-knit community. It’s kind of like everybody knows everybody. There’s always somebody that’s there and willing to help. And it’s so amazing to have been invited to so many events and have gotten to see so many events within the community.”
At every one, Mihalko’s a magnet for kids who see the “big sparkly thing” on her head and can’t wait to meet the Coal Queen.
And she’s gotten to hear the stories of people who’ve lived in the area all their lives.
“I just feel like I’m constantly learning in this experience, and it’s so rewarding,” she said.
Mihalko is attending Duquesne University in the fall, where she’ll major in marketing and also be a member of the university dance team.
But first, she has to crown her successor.
This year’s Coal Show pageant starts at 7 p.m. Aug. 23 at Carmichaels Area High School. It kicks off the weeklong King Coal Show, which runs through Aug. 29.
Her advice to the next Bituminous Coal Queen?
Say yes to everything you can. And when they run into someone at an event, take the time to talk with them and get to know them.
“A lot of times I had seen somebody at one event, and then the next event they were there as well, and it was really nice to form those relationships where we could catch up as opposed to meeting each other again for the first time,” she said.