Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Festival Queens Named

By JOHN MILLER

Four new queens were crowned in Gurdon Saturday night during the Forest Festival Pageant.

And making the decision on who would reign was not easy for the three judges, as the competition was extremely tough.

Nonetheless, Adrianne Porcelli will reign over the 17th Annual Forest Festival as the queen. Taylor Pace was named Princess, with Alyssa Watson taking the Little Miss title and Brooke Watson being named Tiny Miss.

Others earning accolades in the pageant for the Tiny Miss competition were: Jordan Cooper as first runner up; Brittney Dickson second runner up. Kandyce Jones was tabbed as Miss Photogenic.

In the Little Miss category, Haley Drake was the first runner up, with Aaren Crews the second runner up. Jesi Woolf was named Miss Photogenic.

The Princess division saw Jessie Weems earn the title of first runner up, while Destiny Talley got the second runner up spot. The photogenic award went to Lacey McNabb.

Then came the Queen bracket with Brooke Gills the first runner up. Kimberly Robertson earned two honors as second runner up and Miss Photogenic. Mandi Shaver won the interview portion of the event.

Jerry Westmoreland again acted as Master of Ceremonies, keeping the packed house at Gurdon Middle School's auditorium entertained as the young ladies prepared for their competitions.

The atmosphere was festive for the trip to "Fantasy Island," the pageant's theme. The stage was gaily decorated with gold foil wrapped palm trees, green foil palm fronds, and tinsel of silver, red, purple, green, blue and gold streaming down.

The 1996 queens paraded on stage to the strains of "This is the Moment" as they prepared to surrender their crowns to the 1997 winners.

In all, some 37 young ladies competed in the four age groups for the various crowns.

The pageant began with the Tiny Miss contestants nervously walking out, taking center stage and trying their best to wave and smile simultaneously as the audience cheered wildly for its favorites.

The Little Miss contestants weren't quite as nervous as the younger girls, but had their moments.

This contest was tougher for the judges to decide, as they needed about 15 minutes to pick a winner.

When the new Little Miss was crowned, LeAndra Jester performed to the crowd's delight, singing "American Trilogy," and "Cry."

After the judges had named a new Princess, Freddie Horne talked about the upcoming 17th Annual Forest Festival.

He said more than 90 arts and crafts booths have been booked, and all food vending booths have been filled.

Horne reminded the audience the date for the 1997 Forest Festival is Oct. 25, beginning at 7 a.m. with the Rotary Club's Pancake Breakfast at the Senior Citizen's Center.

This will be followed by the annual parade at 10 a.m., with plenty of events going on to keep all the visitors occupied throughout the day.

The day will end with an auction, street dance and -- possibly the most important event -- the street cleaning contest.

When Horne finished, the queen contestants came out, causing the judges much consternation as they had to make a final decision.

Any of the 10 young ladies entered would have made an excellent queen, but only one could reign. This year that will be Adrianne Porcelli.