Like a lot of little girls, Claudia Toenjes dreamed of being a princess.
She loved the sparkle of the crown, the beautiful dresses and the attention they brought to the young women who wore them.
And then, on July 11, 2021, her dream came true. Toenjes, 17 years old at the time, was crowned Miss Litchfield before a packed house at Bernie Aaker Auditorium.
It didn’t take long, though, for her to realize that her role as an ambassador for Litchfield was about so much more than the royal jewelry and evening wear of her childhood dreams.
Toenjes and princesses Abagayle Shoutz and Haylie Magoon have appeared in more than two dozen parades throughout the region, in addition to participating in numerous other events in Litchfield and surrounding area.
She says she’s learned a lot about the community and the people, and a lot about herself through her Miss Litchfield experience. And she’s grown a lot — even if she didn’t recognize that growth until others pointed it out to her.
Her crowning was a kind of historic first for the Miss Litchfield program. Claudia received her crown from her older sister, Cecilia, who served two years as Miss Litchfield, also a first, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped out Watercade and the coronation in 2020.
It was an unusual transition for the program, and for the sisters, but also another experience that helped her personal growth, Claudia said.
She will crown her successor during the Miss Litchfield coronation Sunday afternoon at Bernie Aaker Auditorium, and then set her sights on her life after the crown.
Before she leaves for college in Arizona, however, Toenjes will have one more experience with royal glitz — she plans to participate in the Minneapolis Aquatennial Queen of Lakes ambassador program later this month.
During a break from rehearsal for the Miss Litchfield coronation recently, Toenjes sat down for an interview to look back at her year of reign.
Let’s look back to last year. The coronation. What is that moment like up there on the stage, standing there holding hands with the girls next to you, and the crown goes on your head. What goes through your mind when that happens?
CT: I feel like it’s one of those moments where nothing goes through your mind, because there’s just too much, so you can’t even pinpoint one emotion, because it’s a million different things. And it’s crazy, because all I can remember is, like, how looking out at the audience, it was just black, because you’re just so terrified and nervous and full of emotions, like everything is just so crazy. And it feels like it’s in slow motion. Because you’re just waiting up there. And then once the crown is put on your head, then everything is super fast. So it’s slow up until the moment and then after you get crowded. It’s just everything’s speeding by like you’re trying to get pictures with your family. A million people are congratulating you you’re trying to, like actually process what just happened. And then once you get home that night, you’re like, “Wow!” And then you just keep watching the video of yourself. Like, I don’t really believe it, so I’ll just watch this video that my parents took a bunch of times until I actually believe it’s real.
How are you feeling as your reign as Miss Litchfield nears the end?
CT: It’s really crazy and surreal, because they always tell you, “Oh, it will go by so fast.” I feel like I’ve heard that my whole life going to coronation. The farewell speeches, they always talk about that, but it actually does. And as a senior, you’re experiencing all those last things. And so it’s just like a whole year that speeds by for lots of reasons. And royalty on top of that, it’s another thing that, every event you progress, it’s another last — last time we’re doing this or last time we’re doing this other thing, and it’s just it’s fun. Being a senior, we’ve learned how to, like, be good at living in the moment, taking in all the experiences when they’re happening. And so that’s helped during like these last parades as the season’s starting to pick up and get more busy. I’ve just been enjoying it and like living in the moment because I know only a couple more weeks.
I would imagine that the day after your crowning last year, you must have been thinking about how much there was to do. There’s so much on the calendar, and you’re always looking forward. To just appreciate the one parade you’re in and not being constantly looking forward must be a challenge.
CT: Exactly. I remember the day after we got crowned, we were just all talking about everything we were excited for. Like Hailey was so excited for the Anoka Halloween parade. And that was a couple months away at that point. And you’re always like, looking forward to the monumental moments throughout the year. And then it kind of takes away a little bit from just like living each parade like “this is special.” And this is a whole different community. Actually, you can learn a lot from every experience. And they’re all a little bit different and unique. So you have to learn to appreciate that. And I’ve definitely learned that throughout my reign, how to appreciate those small differences and moments.
How long had being Miss Litchfield been something you’ve thought about?
CT: I probably knew when I was about in second grade, and my mom started getting involved in being the choreographer (for the coronation program). I saw kind of the behind the scenes, and it’s more than just parades and being in a pretty dress and stuff. I started to see how much you actually get to do through the program and all the connections you make.
And has it been what you expected it to be?
CT: Yes and no. I feel like from an outside perspective, you don’t see how much the individual grows in their skills and build their character throughout the year, because that’s something you have to experience as an individual. And unless it’s my close family, a lot of people might not know the differences, like the things I’ve truly learned can take away with my entire life, because you don’t see that from a community perspective. You just see them waving at parades and maybe having small conversations here and there, but you don’t get to see how in depth it actually goes.
What is something you will take away from this year, that you’ll never forget, either that you’ve learned or just the experience blew you away?
CT: I would say, I’ve always been a huge planner, and, like, everything is about having events and things go exactly the way that they were planned, and that’s not always how it’s going to happen. And this experience has definitely taught me that and just learning to go with the flow a little bit more. Take a break from it — my perfectionism — if I can, and just, even with flaws, it’s still, you can still learn a lot. It doesn’t have to be perfect for you to have a great experience.
I was talking to my coworker, and I didn’t work a lot during the school year. So, I came back after not being there since last summer, and she was like, “Well, you’ve totally come out of your comfort zone. And you’re way more talkative and comfortable speaking to more people.” And she’s like, “I can tell that royalty has definitely contributed to that.” And so that puts it in perspective for me, because you don’t notice until you’re getting that feedback from other people who are really seeing a change.
What is it like to be in all these parades and to be the face, if you will, of Litchfield for a year? It’s got to be fun, but it’s also a lot of responsibility.
CT: You don’t totally think about that aspect of it until you’re actually in the position, and people will recognize you all the time. And that’s definitely a weird feeling, like, people will just come up to you and be like, “Oh, you’re Miss Litchfield,” or refer to you as Miss Litchfield rather than your actual name or something. And they just recognize you, because it’s a familiar face that is kind of associated with a lot of Lichfield events or activities. So it’s definitely an adjustment to be aware of your surroundings all the time. They teach us how we have to know that even if we’re not wearing our crown, we still have to be respectful and appropriate and just acting as a representative of Litchfield, even if we’re not wearing all of our attire. Because it’s on and off, you’re always doing something and people are always seeing you in public. And so even if we’re not wearing our crown, people are still looking to us as an example.
Have you learned anything about Litchfield during the past year that you didn’t know before becoming Miss Litchfield?
CT: Well, some stuff like how in depth this program has gone for so many years. This year’s coronation is themed, like, powerful women throughout (history) and we kind of going back and telling stories of past royalty, and women and what they’ve done with their lives since. And just having those coversations with people in the community who have been involved in this program, you’ll learn a lot about how it’s been going for such a long amount of time and how there’s differences, but also similarities, and we’re keeping up that tradition and those standards. It is pretty cool to know that even if you don’t know all these women, you’re still joined to them and connected in a way because you have a similar experience. So whenever you see someone with the (Litchfield royalty) necklace, we are able to have those conversation and relate even if we’ve never talked to them before.
That’s interesting and it makes me wonder, knowing that lineage of the women having done this before, you talk about powerful women, does it make you think, “Wow, I’ve got a lot to live up to”?
CT: You’re able to see how this program could have influenced their public speaking skills and their involvement in their communities, even if it’s not Litchfield anymore. That makes us three, who are current ambassadors, want to achieve as much, or even greater than the people in the past have, because they’ve, like paved that path. And we know it’s possible to accomplish great things, kind of motivated by this program, and enabled, because it’s a very enabling program. We learn how much we’re capable of, and the impact you can have in a community. And so we, we know that and it’s instilled in our brains when we can, like, take that with us into the future.
It’s not just pretty dresses, right?
CT: Yeah. That’s what everyone thinks, and then once you have a conversation, it’s so much more than that. We’ve been trying to really push the volunteerism aspect — and personal skills — when we’re talking to potential candidates and things because from the outside, it does look a lot like just pretty dresses, you know, waving in the parades, always having a smile on your face. But you get a lot more from it than that. And like, just just simply the interview skills, like we’ve learned a lot from that. And that whole selection process is super helpful, going into the workforce, and future, even scholarships and everything like that. You’re getting a lot more from it than just what people think originally.
You are going to be forever a great trivia question. Or the answer to a trivia question, right? There’s never been back-to-back sister’s winning Miss Litchfield, right? What’s that been like? What was it like to follow Cecilia in this role?
CT: Well, OK, this is an interesting way to put it, but I’ve been thinking about this and how, you always get asked about this. For a while. I was so annoyed. I was like, “Mom, they just always asked me about Cece, it’s always about her.” I was like, “Why can’t I just be myself and be my own person?” But I, I realized, when I’m thinking about it, she made a big impact. And why I was so frustrated to get out of her shadow — she made a big shadow or big impact on people around her. And that’s why it’s like, more difficult to be looked at or separated from that, because they know her and the many amazing connections and things she did to the people around her. So it’s been interesting, because, you know, selfishly, you’re like, “Ah, I can’t just be seen as myself.” But looking back, it’s really great to have a role model that I can look to and text like, “Hey, I don’t know what to do in this situation,” or “Hey, can we FaceTime? I need help with a royalty thing.” And that has been super valuable to me throughout this experience. And the other girls too. We just feel like we have a friend we can look up to. And in this case, she just happens to be my sister. We definitely have built a bond over the royalty thing.
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