Strawberry pageant night notes

Here are some notes and highlights of Saturday's Florida Strawberry Festival queen's pageant:

This was the first time the pageant was held at the Florida Strawberry Festival TECO Expo Hall. Years ago, the pageant was held on the festival grounds but for many years the venue was Tomlin Middle School auditorium. The pageant sponsor, the Plant City Lions Club, said the pageant outgrew Tomlin. The expo hall worked out great, said Lions Club member Bob Fulks, who said he's worked at the pageant for so many years, "I lost count."

Burgin is wearing a new style of crown that was introduced this year. Sandee Sytsma, who coordinates scheduling for the queen and court, said she ordered a different type of crown that more evenly distributes its weight on the queen's head. Previous queens have complained of a "dent" that the old style of crown left on their heads if they wore it for any length of time. The new style is the same height (7 inches) and roughly the same weight (one pound) but is contoured to more evenly distribute the weight, Sytsma said. Queens keep their crowns and don't hand them down from year to year.

There were a few challenges in the pageant's new digs. The men's room in the expo hall was transformed into the dressing room for the contestants, so male members of the audience had to walk outside to a restroom in the festival stadium. Grabbing something to eat or drink also meant a walk outside, to the East Hillsborough Historical Society's shortcake booth. At Tomlin, concession sales and restrooms for both genders were under one roof.

The emcees for the night were Amy Norman - no stranger to the festival stage - and Charles Harris. Norman was the queen in 1996 who is now the chief executive officer of Tampa Bay Technology Forum. Harris is the president of the Plant City Lions Club and new president of the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce. He co-owns the Holiday Inn Express at 2102 N. Park Road with his father, Charlie.

Each contestant had to give a 30-second commercial for their business sponsor. TyLnn Eben, who was named first maid, gave her pitch for Dental Associates of Walden Lake in the form of a rap song. The crowd roared its approval.

This was the second year that casual wear replaced swimwear in the competition. Many contestants wore jeans or sundresses, and some included sunglasses in their attire, including Natalie Burgin, who was named queen. The swimwear competition was abandoned after complaints that some contestants were showing too much skin, although Lions Club officials say they made the switch for other reasons.

The contestants were all asked who they considered their role models. Nearly half said their mother or grandmother, two said both parents and two answered their father or grandfather. There was a scattering of other responses, including Princess Diana, a high school teacher and a Christian singer. MacKenzie Allen said her role model was former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, who she said, "shows what it's like to be a Christian."

The outgoing queen, Lauren Der, first maid Sara Beth Newsome, and court members Megan Cochran, Joclyn Emerson and Morgan Feaster made their final appearances as festival royalty at the pageant. Here's what's next for each of them: Der, a 20-year-old student at Hillsborough Community College, is transferring this fall to the University of Florida to study agriculture communications. Newsome, 18, is a Hillsborough Community College freshman who plans to transfer to the University of South Florida to major in education. Cochran, 18, is in her first year at Florida State University, where she is majoring in psychology. Emerson, 21, is a USF junior with an undeclared major. Feaster, 19, is a hairstylist who works at Studio 3, a Plant City salon owned by her mother.

At Saturday's pageant, Cochran sported a shorter hairstyle than when she was named court member in 2009. Cochran said she decided to cut a few inches off her blonde locks when she went away to school at FSU. Feaster cut her hair.

The pageant included the screening of an April 11 "Good Morning America" segment that profiled not only Der and her court but also showcased Plant City as the winter strawberry capital of the world. The more than four-minute segment included footage of Der and her court members walking the festival grounds and going about their daily routines. ABC correspondent's Juju Chang's said during the show that "succulent ruby red berries aren't the only bounty produced here. Year after year, a local festival produces a bumper crop of pageant royalty.

"They're less role models than living monuments to a fading slice of Americana. While the passing decades have transformed Florida from farms to resort towns choked with chain restaurants and tourist magnets, the strawberry queen and her court stand in defiance of the rush to urbanization," Chang said.

In keeping with a longstanding tradition, former festival queens were invited to the pageant stage to be recognized. More than a dozen queens made their way to the stage, although Catherine Fletcher Clark, who wore the crown in 1940, remained in the audience and festival officials shined a spotlight on her.

Some contestants were slightly off in some of their answers to questions from the emcees during the pageant. One contestant said the festival lasts 12 days (it's actually 11); one said admission to the festival was $8.50 (it's $8 in advance for ages 13 and older and $4 for ages 6 to 12, slightly higher at the gate); another said attendance is 1.5 million (it's less than 1 million).

Somer Harvey, a Durant High School senior, was named Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.

Five contestants were named to the top 10 but didn't make it into the court, including: MacKenzie Allen, Jessica Ardrey, Emily Funk, Kelley Lott and Summer Norris.

In her farewell video before she made her final stroll on the stage, Der thanked the community for their support, her parents for their guidance, and her sister Erica, who was the 2003 queen, for advice. She said she drew strength from God and quoted from a passage in the Old Testament about believers' ability to soar like eagles with the Lord's guidance.

Der enjoyed a slightly longer reign than many queens, about 55 weeks. The pageant is traditionally held in either in late January or early February, depending on scheduling, pageant coordinator Kelleigh Klein said. In Der's case, she was crowned Jan. 17, 2009, and her reign didn't end until Feb. 6, 2010. She said she appreciated the extra time as queen and felt honored to wear the crown.

Several children played roles in the queen's coronation ceremony, including herolds Taryn Storter and Leeann Miller, flower girls Bethany and Rebecca Ballard, and crown bearer Russell Caton.

The pageant was decided by a panel of judges from outside of the area that included a makeup artist, computer company chief executive officer, financial representative and a teacher who once competed for Miss West Virginia. The pageant uses out-of-town judges to avoid the possibility that a judge might know a contestant. The contestants are judged on poise, stage presence, evening-wear competition, personal interview and other factors.

There were eight fewer candidates this year, 24, compared to 2009, but the pageant still took nearly as long. Burgin's crowning came about three hours after the competition started. Last year's pageant was about 3 1/2 hours.

Natalie Burgin, the new queen, competed in junior royalty, a festival pageant for girls 5 to 15, as did two of her sisters. But she is the only one of the five Burgin sisters who competed for queen.

At 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Burgin is the tallest queen since 2006 queen Hannah Hodge, who is 5 foot 8. Der, who is 5-foot-2, had to stretch a bit to place the crown on Burgin's head.

Contestants with blonde hair have won four of the previous five pageants. Burgin is a brunette.

The queen and her court win more than bragging rights. Prizes include savings bonds, scholarships, trophies, gift certificates and more. The prizes come from the Lions Club, strawberry festival and local businesses. Miss Congeniality wins a $250 scholarship from the Plant City Lions Auxiliary.