This year’s Watercade brought out the waterworks during the queen coronation Sunday night at Bernie Aaker Auditorium.
“I just had a rush of emotions going through my head when I felt the crown on me,” said Erika Hart, who was named princess at the coronation. “I was mostly shocked, but when I turned around to hug Paige (Dilley) and the other royalty, I just started crying. I couldn’t help it.”
Emily Schreiber, who was also crowned as a princess, and Ali Richardson, who was named Miss Litchfield, also had glossy eyes after their crowns were placed atop their coifs. The tears, Richardson said, came when the girls glanced at last year’s royalty — who just one year ago stood where Richardson, Hart and Schreiber stood on Sunday.
“They know how that feels to be crowned, too,” Richardson said. “They know how excited we are and how grateful we are.”
Even Richardson’s 17-year-old brother cried after she was crowned, she said.
“My brother Sam started crying when he hugged me,” Richardson said. “So I was crying in the beginning a little bit but once we met up, he was crying and said, ‘I just knew you wanted it so bad.’ It was so sweet. He never cries.”
The new royalty — all 2014 Litchfield High School graduates — were among a group of seven girls competing for the title of Miss Litchfield. When Richardson was crowned queen, she nearly collapsed on stage.
“I almost fell over. I couldn’t feel myself,” Richardson said after the coronation. “I seriously just dropped and they had to catch me, so it was unbelievable.”
Richardson said she was surprised when she felt the crown “digging into” her hair — mostly because she kept going back and forth on whether or not she wanted to enter the pageant. Many of her friends and family members encouraged her to run, Richardson said, so she committed to run in April.
“I’ve always wanted to,” she said, noting the first coronation she remembers attending was in sixth grade.
“I would go with my mom and I was super excited to see who was crowned next and it just became a tradition for us,” Richardson said. “I was always like, ‘I hope I can just be up there and be one of the girls crowned. It would be such an honor.’ And here I am with these two awesome girls.”
After the coronation, the girls said they truly felt like royalty.
“I for sure felt like a princess last night with all the text messages,” Schreiber said Monday. Richardson agreed, stating she had 67 new notifications on the social media site Facebook after the coronation.
Kaytlin Bemis, 2012-2013 Miss Litchfield emceed the coronation with Chastity Valvick, a princess from 2000-2001.
“It takes a lot of courage to enter the stiff competition up here,” Bemis said Sunday.
Richardson said she asked her family and friends to pray for her before coronation so she could have peace and confidence on stage. Her fishbowl question — a random question drawn from a fishbowl to answer for the audience and judges — asked what Richardson’s favorite quality about herself is.
Richardson answered that her best quality was her positive attitude, which she sustains due to the positive relationships in her life, she said.
“Having a good relationship with God gives me something to lean on other than myself,” she said. “And having supportive people around me, too — my family and friends. They’re all positive, too, it seems.”
All three girls said they are looking forward to meeting new people during the coming year and gaining valuable public speaking skills.
“This is a really amazing opportunity and honor for all of us,” Richardson said.
During the coronation, Hart was named Miss Congeniality. Candidate Madison Westphal also won the formal gown award. 2013-2014 Miss Litchfield Kristen Klaben received a scholarship of $750, and princesses Kate Carlson and Paige Dilley each received scholarships of $500.
Richardson said she plans to attend St. Cloud State University this fall to study elementary education. Hart plans to attend Ridgewater Community College in Willmar to study photography, and Schreiber plans to attend Mankato State University to study elementary education.
The trio’s first official royal duty will be attending the fourth annual Day to REACH Football Camp with Chad Greenway today (Thursday) at the Litchfield High School football field. The girls’ first parade will be the New London Water Days Grand Day Parade on Saturday.
Winning button numbers
This year’s winning numbers for the Watercade button drawing were also announced at the coronation. The winning button numbers are 17, 341 and 682. All Watercade buttons are numbered, and anyone with a button containing one of the winning numbers qualifies for a $100 prize. Winners can contact a Watercade Board member to claim the prize.
Find more coronation photos in the Watercade 2014 album at http://photos.independentreview.net.
Copyright 2014 Litchfield Independent Review/Crow River Media/Media News Group.