Ann Fisher’s eyes swelled with tears.

As Miss High Desert 2015 Katie Noyed presented a review of her year as the reigning royalty during this year’s pageant on March 12, she thanked Fisher for her support. Fisher walked on stage and embraced Noyed in a hug. It was obvious a friendship had grown from the initial director-pageant winner relationship that began a year ago.

Fisher left the stage to let Noyed finish her presentation. A few moments later, Miss High Desert 2016 Julieanna Carr was crowned, ending the evening’s activities. But Fisher wasn’t worried about who was named winner. As she puts it, the pageant is just for fun. The real work is building up pageant participants’ confidence to get in front of an audience, empowering them with courage both in themselves and their abilities.

“To see the girls evolve from being nervous on their first day to having the confidence to be able to walk in front of a crowd in high heels, which not many people can do, it means a lot to me,” Fisher said.

The Miss High Desert Scholarship Program isn’t special because of what happens during pageant night — for Fisher it’s special because of the change that happens with the girls who participate and the effect of them carrying that confidence with them the remainder of their lives.

“The very first thing I do is love them and embrace them for who they are, and work with them to embrace who they are,” Fisher said. “And then we polish and bring that out.”

A mother of four and soon-to-be grandmother of 10, Fisher’s family is her life. She grew up in Crook County and calls Prineville home. The 51-year-old has been married to her current husband, “the absolute love of my life,” for 23 years. She has worked at a variety of places as an office manager, including the Oregon Department of Transportation and currently with Fortis Construction. In everything she does, she said she tries to be a role model for her kids and grandchildren. She volunteers in her community, including as the executive director of the Miss High Desert Scholarship program, which is a part of the Miss Oregon and Miss America programs.

As she put it, “I’m enjoying where I’m at in life.”

“She is very family-oriented and service-oriented,” Noyed said. “She is very passionate about what she does and it’s been contagious.”

Fisher became involved with the Miss America program 10 years ago, when her youngest daughter, Rebecah Morris, was crowned Miss Crook County. Fisher was inspired to volunteer the next year because of the change she saw in her daughter’s self-confidence. She kept volunteering after that, and was named executive director in 2013.

Fisher was a teen mom, which she is not ashamed of, but said she wished she could have been exposed to this type of program during that time in her life.

“Each of these girls is going to be trying to navigate this tough world, and I want them to be able to have the confidence and ability to be who they are, no matter what,” Fisher said.

Fisher said she volunteers as a way of giving back to her community, one that she said has given much to her. And the evolution and empowerment of the young women who participate in the program has become a passion for Fisher.

“She is very compassionate about it. She considers it a stepping stone in life,” said Bill Fisher, Ann’s husband. “Me, as a man, I thought it was a stupid girl thing, but she has taught me that it is much more than that. It’s a way for these young girls to grow. And my wife is very compassionate with these young women.”

Despite being the executive director of the Miss High Desert Scholarship program, Fisher said she is most comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt at home. She admitted to being a country girl who loves her three horses. When she isn’t volunteering, outside, working or with her family, she might be found reading a Louis L’Amour novel.

“We drive pickups and our house is totally Western, and there isn’t a day where we don’t do something with our horses, whether it’s feeding them or riding them,” Bill Fisher said. “And she is, she doesn’t dress up in high heels. She dresses up in a nice blouse, some blue jeans and dress boots. She is my little cowgirl.”

The Miss America program, which has been around since 1921, works off a model of four focus points: scholarship, service, style, and success. Through these focus areas, Fisher and her team of fellow volunteers — including her daughter Sarah Miller, who is director of the princesses program and lives in Prineville, and Christa Cox, assistant director, who competed in Miss Oregon as a teen — work with the girls to instill confidence in everything they do. This goes for the princess participants as well, who are 3 to 12 years old.

“I think, in today’s world, we need women to be confident, and that’s what the four points of the crown gives them,” Fisher said.

The program expanded in 2009 from Miss Crook County to Miss High Desert so more girls who were interested could participate. Since then, about eight girls a year have participated in the Miss High Desert and Miss High Desert Outstanding Teen programs. Fisher said she hopes to continue to grow the program, with hopes of one day having a Miss Oregon or Miss America come from Central Oregon.

“Ann is so supportive,” Noyed said. “She doesn’t want to change anything about the girls. She just wants to see them have confidence in who they are.”

Throughout the next year Fisher will work alongside Carr and the rest of the 2016 Miss High Desert royalty in community-oriented service. Her relationship with pageant winners is as a mentor, which she takes seriously. She wants every girl who participates in the program to have the confidence to go out and do exactly what they want.

“I think it takes a special person be a director of a Miss America program, because it takes a lot of time and effort,” Noyed said. “And Ann is the person to be it. Miss America is about encouraging you to be the best you, and Ann is the quintessential spokesperson for that.”

Fisher promotes a sense of security of self in the girls who participate, Noyed said. Noyed is “definitely a lot more confident in the things” she does after a year as Miss High Desert.

And even though her time as Miss High Desert is over, she hasn’t stopped her community involvement. She is currently the coordinator of a benefit and awareness walk for the National Eating Disorder Association, scheduled in May.

“I went into the whole thing as a way to challenge my eating disorder,” Noyed said. “And it was huge to be in that environment and be OK with who I was. … And I have always wanted to do a walk, and participating in the Miss High Desert and Miss America programs have helped me.”

Fisher also works with the young women at her church as the young women’s president. She said she plans to continue her work in the Miss High Desert program, while continuing to work on her lifelong goal of learning something new every day, while giving back to her community.

“I love my community, and I want to make a change for the better and give back to a community that has given a lot to me and my family,” Fisher said. “I believe in empowering women. No matter what they want to do, I want them to feel empowered to do that.”

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com