Newly crowned Miss Little Italy, Rosalie Casper of Allegheny Township, a pageant natural

Allegheny Township’s Rosalie Casper spent a few weeks working on her stage presence before her debut pageant appearance Sunday at Little Italy Days in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood.

That’s all the preparation the 5-year-old needed. Rosalie was named Miss Little Italy in the 4-to-6-year-old division at the region’s largest annual festival celebrating all things Italian.

Rosalie had all the motivation she needed when she heard about the competition and the large trophy that goes to the winner.

“I love trophies. I was like, I can do this,” Rosalie said Tuesday.

Rosalie, who begins kindergarten this week at Kiski North Primary School, was the first of 30 contestants to step onto the stage Sunday.

“I was surprised at how poised and confident she was,” said her mother, Cassandra. “She has no pageant training.”

Rosalie’s mom served as Rosalie’s hair stylist, providing her with fancy curls in her long blonde hair that complemented the ornate formal gold dress she donned for the competition.

“It was a big and poofy dress. I couldn’t do anything in it,” Rosalie said, giggling about the elaborate gown that her grandmother ordered online for the event.

Rosalie had to answer two questions during the competition, one on why she wanted to be crowned Little Miss Italy, and the other addressing her favorite activity this summer.

Rosalie — whose namesake is her late Italian grandmother, Rose LaCaria — told the judges how much she loved Italy, Italian pizza and gardening.

Another one of her grandmothers, Allegheny Township’s Sandy Majocha, said she cried watching her granddaughter onstage.

“Rosalie is very close to me and I was overwhelmed. I was so shocked and surprised. She’s very motivated,” Majocha said. “All the girls were beautiful. We wanted her to just go and have the experience.”

Rosalie is involved in dance, baton twirling, soccer and gymnastics. With her new title, sash and crown, Rosalie will participate in upcoming parades in Pittsburgh.

For now, Rosalie said she’s keeping her tiara in a china cabinet that she calls a “special closet.”