By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
After a few years off, the Queens Pageant returned to the Crestline Harvest Festival for 2014.
Seven contestants braved the main stage on Thursday to introduce themselves and answer fishbowl questions. Before the pageant, the contestants were also interviewed by judges Pamm Duplaga, Shirley Feick, Diane Worley, and Nancy Fensch.
Colonel Crawford freshman Desiree Sharp was crowned the 2014 Crestline Harvest Festival Queen.
“It is great,” Sharp said after being crowned. “I am definitely proud to be the first back this year and I’m going to do everything to make this the best year ever.”
Sharp said the hardest thing about preparing for the pageant was making a scrapbook, which detailed each contestant’s life and allowed the judges to learn more about them. She said she found it hard to decide what to put in the scrapbook.
The toughest part, however, may have come while the girls were waiting for the judges to return from deliberating, which took a bit longer than usual when they had to break a tie.
“It was very nerve-wracking,” Sharp said. “Sydney was there comforting me so it was okay.”
The girls running for Harvest Festival Queen included Joczelyn Earl, Jessica Hurley, Lauren Scherer, Desiree Sharp, Sydney Weisman, Bonnie Welsh, and Kennedie Winkler. Scherer was crowned runner-up and Winkler took home the Miss Congeniality prize.
The winners will be awarded scholarships after they complete their first full year of college or technical school education. The Queen will receive a $750 scholarship, the runner-up a $500 scholarship, and Miss Congeniality will be awarded a $250 scholarship.