Moulton girl aims high on pageant circuit

Kaylee Trejo is like most girls her age. She likes school well enough, even if she never was a real big fan of all the bookwork. She likes sports and hanging out with her friends. Shooting hoops with her older brother after school. She’s pretty sure he lets her win every now and again, but neither would admit to such nonsense. 

The drive to compete is strong in them.

She likes the show lambs she raises and isn’t the least bit bashful about manhandling the little wooly boogers when they get ornery. She’s thrilled about being a cheerleader next year, but still kinda bummed about her softball season ending at the area round last weekend.

Ask what she hopes for in life, and you can tell right off, she put some time into the answer, because it involves first heading off to Blinn, where she’ll spend a couple years then transfer to Beeville’s Coastal Bend College. The dental hygiene program, after all, is rated one of the best in the whole country. Who knows? Maybe even dental school after so she can set up her own place someplace.

Kaylee, 17, is days away from wrapping up her junior year.

Like many girls who grow up in a small town, Kaylee wore a local crown before, that of Little Miss Moulton. Kaylee remembers her mom, Tina Trejo, bringing her this pretty new dress to put on, then it was off to the world of pageantry.

For many little kids, like Kaylee was then, nothing much was all that memorable from her first pageant experience. And why would it? You hang out at the local Legion Hall for a while watching as other kids, most dressed just as nice as you, slide ballplayer-style across its old dance floor. Looks fun but you can't. Don't want to ruin your pretty new dress, mom says. And just like that, you win a crown. 

It was a teensy thing, half bent. It used to hurt your head if you left it on too long. Still, you got to do some neato stuff, whenever you wore it: Ride on parade floats. Hang out with Santa Claus. 

You even slid on that floor once when mom wasn’t looking. 

But it was work, too. All day, sometimes. Like standing up front and handing people stuff. They’d hand it to you, and you’d hand it somebody else. Repeatedly. About half the stuff in town must’ve passed through your hands at some point, you’re pretty sure.

So, next time you saw mom, headed your way with a pretty new dress, it was, “Aww, Mom… Do I hafta?” 

Not surprising, most gravitate toward something a tad less glittery as they get older: bankers, businesswomen, race car drivers, cowgirls. Maybe even a dentist.

On rare occasions, however, something rekindles an interest. Relights a spark. And suddenly that thing that once had dulled for you burns itself anew. That’s exactly what Kaylee said happened to her, about a year ago now, and it opened her to a world she said she never knew.

•••

Meet Jason—not a word more than that, mind you—just Jason. Apparently, folks like him in the world Kaylee and Tina now tread are held more precious than gold. You might guess he’s a modeling agent of some sort, but your guess would be good as mine.

Jason, it seems, approached them one day and asked Kaylee, then 16, if she’d ever considered pageants. If so, he could recommend a few to get them started. He said he thought she’d do well.

They parted ways exchanging contacts, Kaylee’s mother ever vigilant by her side. He left websites to visit. Check it out, he said. Talk it over. Then he’d be in touch. 

Wasn’t anything Kaylee said she’d ever considered. Her, a beauty queen? Please. 

We mentioned the bookwork part of school was never Kaylee’s bag. Rather, it nearly always proved a struggle, for reasons she couldn’t explain. She said she’d watch other kids sail right through things and never bat an eye. That very same thing—that her friends finished in seconds, so it seemed—wound up keeping her up nights. 

“It made me feel stupid,” Kaylee said, which in turn made her edgy and want to hide, which in turn exposed a weakness that, somehow, the meanest kids, wild hyenas and certain breeds of wolves seem able to just smell on people like her. So, in addition to her regular school day frustrations and mounting insecurities faced as she never could keep up, she now was tagged by bullies’ torments to top it all off as well. Of course, they only fanned her anxieties to ever greater heights. Which in turn increased her insecurities, pulled her further inside her shell. Which only egged the bully more. It was an ever-spiraling cycle that only got worse.

As if that weren’t enough, Kaylee shared this one part more: A car crash when she was little left her with several scars—on her face of all places—one of her injuries did enough damage that for years nearly the entire left side of face was paralyzed. Doctors worked to remedy what the wreck had done, but progress was slow, leaving her face through much of her youngest years often red, loaded with stitches, and “generally puffy and red,” as she described it. None of it even close to what Kaylee envisioned in a beauty queen. 

But one day, in third grade, Kaylee said she got pulled from class one day to be tested. By day’s end, it turns out, she said they diagnosed her with a couple different types of dyslexia (plus, over-anxiousness and depression, too, but not until later). 

Then one day, from out of nowhere really, Jason appeared, impressing upon Tina’s daughter how he felt the rest of the world saw her. Tina tried that same tact herself with Kaylee. Never worked, though.

When Jason spoke, Kaylee finally seemed to hear, Tina said. She said she saw a light spark up inside in her daughter, a light that’s only gotten brighter each day. So, they checked the websites. They spoke about it at great length, the mother and her daughter, so that when Jason called back as he said he might, Kaylee gave her answer. “Where do I need to go to get started?” she asked him.

He met question with question: Ever been to Pasadena?

Never in their wildest imaginations could they have dreamed they’d ever do this.

•••

In Pasadena—the one out by Houston, not another state—they got their first taste of pageant life. Her mom was impressed by how her daughter took point on this, looking up what all she’d need to have in hand. Things like resumes and headshots, miles of applications and practiced responses to certain questions, thematic elements she might champion (like it’s ok to be different from everybody else), cool stories to help describe what they’re all about (and a car crash definitely lends a unique and memorable angle to Kaylee's story). As October crept ever closer, Tina said she witnessed a total transformation in her daughter.

“Most of her competition has been doing this since birth, so the odds were clearly stacked against us,” Tina said. “Plus, they were from the largest places Texas has—Houston, Clear Lake, Dallas, Fort Worth, Garland, Austin, Laredo, Lubbock, Amarillo—half were places we’d never even been.”

They’d all grown up together, after all, and here comes little miss so-and-so from a town that sounds more like a description for lava than an actual place. “Who does she think she is?” they surely must’ve asked. “They let just anybody into these things now,” they no doubt whispered in hushed circles. Until, that is, Kaylee gave her first speech. And absolutely nailed it in her interview portion. 

They must’ve stained the bed sheets when the judges called her name for a crown. Much less three. At her first serious pageant, ever, Kaylee won Most Beautiful, Most Fashionable and First Runner-up. In addition to her Little Miss Moulton title from years ago now, Kaylee has racked up quite the collection since October 2021: Miss Lavaca County Teen, Miss Lone Star Teen, Miss Texas Teen Agriculture. 

Kaylee and her mom reached out to the newspaper last weekend, to talk about their upcoming trips to Orlando, Fla.

Because of her Miss Texas Teen Agriculture crown, Kaylee can now compete for the national title in June. Because of her Miss Lone Star Teen title, she’s now up for the Miss Royal International title, where in early July she would be competing against girls from all over the world. 

Having never been to shows like these, the Trejos say they have no idea what things may cost. As such they have several fundraisers planned.

“First, we have teamed up with Rocky Creek Maze and will be selling some of their amazing kettle corn popcorn,” Tina said. “We will be taking orders to make sure you get a bag, we will try to have extras on hand but no guarantees. Please let Kaylee Trejo or Tina Trejo know how many bags we can put you down for. Actual prices were still getting ironed out as of this writing, but the bags are huge,” Tina said.

“We are super excited about hosting their very first cornhole tournament and bake sale on Sunday, May 15, at Moulton City Park,” she added. “It begins at 1 p.m., and registration is $50 per team with a cash payout to the winner. The more teams who sign up, the better the cash award.”

The Trejos know a thing about cornhole, too. The Moulton Eagle featured Kyle Trejo, 22, in a January 2022 story about how that young man and his fellow Texas A&M cornhole teammates, had just become the first-ever national collegiate champions at the invitational tournament held at Myrtle Beach, S.C., in late 2021.

Interestingly, Kyle said he never even heard of cornhole until about six months before playing in the Christmastime tournament that was broadcast on ESPN. Not all too different from how Kaylee walked away with three title wins in Pasadena a few months ago. Did I mention they had a competitive streak?

“So, grab your buddy and get signed up,” Tina said. “It will be a family-filled day. Even if you don’t play, come out and watch and get your sweet tooth fix at the bake sale. We are also happily accepting any donations. Anyone who might like to bring a few things for the bake sale or anything is appreciated.”

Team Texas is holding a T-shirt fundraiser. There are three different divisions to choose from: 1) Gold sponsor is for anyone who contributes $200 or more; 2) Silver sponsor goes to those who contribute $100; and 3) Bronze sponsor is for $75. Sponsorships are for businesses, friends or family who would like to help. Those who do will get their names put on the back of the shirts which will be sold at the pageant in Florida. 

If you would like to learn about sponsorship, please get in touch with either Tina or Kaylee for more information. The deadline for shirt sponsors also falls on Sunday, May 15. For more information, reach out to either on Facebook or please call at (361) 772-1392

“Please help this hometown girl make her dreams become reality,” Kaylee’s mom told us. “And thank you all to everyone who has given so generously already. We are truly grateful for everything that everyone has done.”