A Lloydminster teen with ties to the valley has been crowned Miss Teen Canada Petite.

Ayden Kosko, daughter of Dave and Stacey has roots in the valley. Her grandparents are James and Lorna Urch. She travelled to the National Competition in Toronto from August 15-25. It was a whirlwind week of late nights and early mornings, but she persevered.

“It was really hard, we had to keep our heads up and keep working to see who was strong,” she said. “They wanted to see who is going to survive the best, who is going to want it more.”

She showed her strength on August 18 by winning the Regional Competition and being crowned Miss Teen Alberta Globe. She moved on to the national pageant and worked her way to the top. She says the pageant helped to build her up.

“I have more confidence and am better at public speaking, that’s for sure,” she said. “I was confident before, but this just changed my whole perspective on it.

One of the biggest highlights was the camaraderie among the competitors and the bond they made.

“One of my best friends was in the pageant too, and she won Miss Teen Canada Globe, it is really cool because we are really close now. We hope to do a student exchange because she is from Quebec,”.

With her position comes responsibilities.  Ayden says she is expected to make a number of personal appearances, sharing her experience and knowledge.

“I have been asked by a modeling school to do a talk, and I have been asked to present at some other schools here to talk to girls about confidence,” she said.

She will also get an opportunity for new experiences including a cruise in Mexico and has been invited to Fashion Week in Toronto. She will represent Canada in the Miss Petite International Pageant.

She is thankful for her opportunity and hopes others can have the same experience. She offers her advice and knowledge to others wishing to have the pageant experience.

“If anyone is interested and wants to do this, they can contact me through my Facebook,” she said.

Five years ago a small crew from Rambunxious Entertainment were in the valley shooting a World War II based film. Today, the film is up for six awards at the Action On International Film Festival in Las Vegas.

The film ‘Thousand Yard Stare’ is being released around the world and it is receiving critical acclaim. It used the valley as a backdrop to propel the film.

“It was finished technically last August and then we went to our distributor and they started selling it to markets around the world,” explains Aaron Kurmey of Rambunxious. “In February it came out in South Korea, in May it came out in England, it just came out in Japan a week ago and it came out in the United States and Canada on September 4 on DVD.”

  He adds there may be some television screening in Canada.

“It is being received relativity well for a low budget movie,” he said.

In fact, it was nominated for six Alberta Media Production Industry Association (AMPIA) awards and took home the awards for Best Screenwriters in a Drama over 30 minutes and Best Dramatic Feature or Made for TV Movie.

At the Action On Film Festival in Vegas, it is up for Best Costumes, Best Cinematography, Best Action Sequence, Best Drama, Best Period Piece, and Best Picture.

‘Thousand Yard Stare’ tells the story of a World War II veteran struggling to reintegrate with family life as he relives the Battle of Kasserine Pass.

Drumheller doubles for Tunisia in this film.

“Someone told me filming here is like  ‘Alberta is the world’s stunt double’ because it can play so many different locations from around the world,” said Kurmey.

Rambunxious Entertainment was launched by Kurmey, Kevin Johnson, and Ryan Hatt, and they describe themselves as guerilla filmmaking. Their film Hoodoo Voodoo, which was also filmed in the valley, was released in 2010 and then they released Battle Earth in 2013.  In the meantime, they are busy with a number of projects.

“It is wide open for us,” said Kurmey.