Queen Autumn Trails

by
Maryann Miller

Amid all the pomp one would expect at a beauty pageant, the 52nd. Queen Autumn Trails was crowned on Saturday October 2nd in Winnsboro. The pageant was held at the Winnsboro High School auditorium, and Pastor David Rose from First Baptist Church in Winnsboro was the emcee. He kept the audience entertained in between performances by the contestants as they moved through the various levels of the competition. Musical entertainment was provided by The Sounds Of Swing band.

The evening opened with a dance number, "All That Jazz", performed by the contestants and the reigning Queen Autumn Trails, as well as their escorts. It was a fun way to start the competition and was quite a crowd pleaser.

Following the dance number, David Rose introduced Haley Mills, the 2009 Queen Autumn Trails, who performed her talent from last year's pageant, an interpretive reading of the poem, Now I lay me Down. It is a poignant story about a nurse in a military hospital and a soldier who is severely wounded. There was not a dry eye in the house when she finished. Haley was escorted by Collin Garrett.

There were a number of special guests that included Queens from Winnsboro Rodeo Association, the Franklin County Sheriff's Posse Queen, and Winnsboro Rodeo Jr. Princess, Kennedy Kate Babur.

Also present were (below L-R) LIttle Miss Autumn XXX1, Sarah Underwood; Autumn Princess, Chloe Baxter; and Jr. Miss Autumn, Peyton Gilbert.

Next up was the Casual Wear segment of the competition. Each contestant showed off her taste and flair with a stylish outfit put together to suit her personality. Amber Brimer is pictured below in her casual wear outfit.

A favorite part of the event was the talent competition, and it was varied and quite entertaining. Amber Brimer sang to a Carrie Underwood song, "My Temporary Home." Holly Stone sang "When I Call on Jesus" with a powerful voice and presentation that earned a few "amen's" from the audience.

Carlee, "CJ" Satterwhite delighted the audience with her dance and comedy routine to "Magic". A real show stopper was the dance Jalen Safford choreographed to "Boogie Shoes", and it was obvious that she has had a lot of professional dance experience.

Kynze Reep did a jazz lyrical dance to a medley from "The Lion King", and Kimberly Lopez belted out "Any Man of Mine", a Shania Twain hit. Kimberly's rendition was a hit that night and she had the crowd clapping.

Abbey May's talent was quite unusual. She wrote and performed a skit "No Talent." The skit started with a recording of her mother reminding her that she had to decide on what she was going to do for the talent part of the pageant. "What do you do when you don't have a talent?" Abbey responded.

Then she decided to try circus tricks with her dog. That didn't work. Next she thought maybe she would dance. That didn't work. She played a little ditty on a keyboard, but that was all the piano she knew. Despite not having a talent, Abbey won the Howard Rosser Scholarship. She also won for most photogenic and Miss Congeniality, as well as taking the prize for most ticket sales.

Finally it was time for the evening gown competition and the final interview before the new Queen and her court were crowned. Pictured here are the rest of the contestants for the coveted Queen Autumn Trails designation. (L-R) Holly Stone, CJ Satterwhite, Jalen Safford, Kynze Reep, Kimberly Lopez, and Abbey May.

After the judges scores were tabulated, the winners were announced. Second runner up was CJ Satterwhite. First runner up was Holly Stone, and Queen Autumn Trails was Jalen Safford. Jalen was obviously thrilled as Haley Mills placed the crown on her head. (L-R) CJ Satterwhite, Jalen Safford, and Holly Stone.