Singing is a family affair for sisters Rachel and Michaela Hawley, of Akron, and their cousin Anna Klatt, Warsaw.
The trio won the Senior Talent Show at the Kosciusko County Community Fair Thursday, and will compete in the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis Aug. 9.
The Hawley sisters have competed at the state fair three previous years.
"We've never placed, but it is big and very exciting to be there," said Michaela Hawley, 11.
The sisters have been singing together for several years, but this is the first time Klatt, 20, has joined her cousins on the stage.
"I've been singing since I was really little at church with my dad," Klatt said. "I think he took me on stage with him when I was 2 or 3 for the first time, but, besides church, this is the first time I've done anything in public."
Rachel Hawley, 17, said when Klatt asked about singing together as a trio, it sounded like a fun opportunity.
"We thought it would be fun to make a group together," she said.
Michaela Hawley said the trio practiced the song, "Out of His Great Love," by The Martins, for a month before the county fair.
Klatt said preparation for the competition was one of her favorite parts of performing.
"We had so much fun," Klatt said. "We got to go shopping together, which was a blast. We got to be a lot closer during this time practicing. We've always been really good friends, but we got really close."
The girls said, though they worked hard training for the talent contest, they just wanted to have fun and enjoy performing. They didn't expect to win the competition or be chosen to compete at the state level. "When we heard our name being called out for state fair, we thought, 'Oh, now this is good,'" said Rachel Hawley. "When we heard them call out places one, two and three, we were just so excited. We didn't know we'd win."
Klatt said she and her cousins will carry the same easy-going attitude to the state fair.
"We're just going to have fun," she said. "There's not a lot of pressure. We're just really honored to get to go and just really excited about the opportunity."
The trio said excitement and energy is what they like most about performing in front of an audience.
"It's just a lot of fun getting on stage and showing your talent and showing what God's given you," said Rachel Hawley.
"I really like it when the crowd gets involved and when I feel like our music is touching people," said Klatt. "That's what makes it really worthwhile."
Klatt said spending time singing with her cousins is the part of the competition that she'll always remember.
"I have the best family," she said, "and it doesn't hurt that they're really talented too. They're like the younger sisters I never had."
