Three Pequot Lakes High School students will spend their senior year as royalty after claiming titles at the 33rd annual Miss Pequot Lakes Scholarship Pageant held Thursday, June 25, at Breezy Point Resort.
Sydney Dorion was crowned Miss Pequot Lakes, earning a $4,000 scholarship. Princesses are Hannah Brown and Madi Fulton, who each will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Brown also won the Miss Congeniality title and another $1,000 scholarship.
Their escorts are Myla Abrams, queen escort, and Harper Palmer and Nola Novak, princess escorts. Abrams and Palmer were fourth-graders at Eagle View Elementary School while Novak was in fourth grade at Crosslake Community School this past school year.
Other Miss Pequot Lakes candidates were seniors Katie Nelson, Natalie Thorson, Jackalyn Fox and Samantha Jackson, and Shayna Schmidt, who will attend college this fall.
Other candidate escorts - who all were fourth-graders at Eagle View Elementary School last school year - were Emme Sullivan, Clare Foote, Taya Hoffman, Lauren Scott and Gabrielle Vershey.
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The pageant was postponed from mid-April because of the COVID-19 situation. Usually held in the high school auditorium, this year’s pageant moved to the White Birch Conference Room at Breezy Point Resort and was not open to the public.
The pageant theme was “Honoring our Hometown Heroes,” and it opened with each candidate walking across the stage with a hometown hero, which included father, grandfather, firefighter, police chief and teacher, among others.
Candidates competed in casual wear and casual conversation, where each answered two on-stage questions; talent; and evening gown presentation at the pageant. Each had a one-on-one interview with pageant judges before the event.
For the talent portion, Dorion gave a speech on the foster care system; Brown performed a science experiment; Fulton gave an art presentation; Nelson did a dog sports presentation; Thorson played the violin; Schmidt sang; Fox gave an art demonstration; and Jackson performed a dance solo.
Outgoing royalty at the pageant included 2019 Miss Pequot Lakes Mariah Rickard, 2019 Princess Whitney Funk and 2019 Princess and Miss Congeniality Taylor Schulz, who each shared a farewell speech at the pageant.
Also at the pageant, Vonnie Tweed, 91, Pequot Lakes, was recognized in a second annual Hall of Fame presentation for her many years of service to the pageant. She joins John and Caroljean Weise in the Miss Pequot Lakes Hall of Fame.
Community Action of Pequot Lakes sponsors the annual Miss Pequot Lakes Scholarship Pageant. Kimberly Ziesemer, pageant director, served as mistress of ceremonies.
Past queens
Past Miss Pequot Lakes queens with the pageant sponsored by the Pequot Lakes Woman's Club include: Heidi Bost, 1982; Lisa Wetrosky, 1983; Susan Hardy, 1984; Teresa Otteson, 1985; Carla Thiede, 1986; Jodie Tweed, 1987; Lisa Peterson, 1988; Nancy Malecha and Bobbi Shaw, 1989; Stephanie Wilson, 1990; Tammy Tulenchik, 1991; Maria Thiede 1992; Katie Thiede, 1994; Trisha Roggenkamp, 1995; Kelsi Landgren, 1996; Jane Dullum, 1997; Arika Thiede, 1998; Patti Westerlund, 1999; Jessica O'Neill, 2000; Carrie Klick, 2001; Tiffany Varilek, 2002; Kimberly Larson, 2003; Caitlin Kennedy, 2004; Shayna Rudlang, 2005.
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Past Miss Pequot Lakes queens with the pageant sponsored by Community Action of Pequot Lakes include: Kendra Johnson, 2011; Jenny Watt, 2012; Angela Cole, 2013; Vanessa Lane, 2014; Nicole Barta, 2015; Megan Morgan, 2016; Alexis Lueck, 2017; Hailee Swenson, 2018; Mariah Rickard, 2019.
Nancy Vogt may be reached at 218-855-5877 or nancy.vogt@pineandlakes.com. Follow her on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Nancy.
