Meet Miss Kingston

Published 1:06 pm Friday, July 24, 2009

KINGSTON — Some little girls still dream of donning a beautiful gown, wearing a crown and being a princess. Each year in Kingston, three young women get to fulfill that dream.

“I have wanted to be Miss Kingston since I was a little girl,” Tanya Hirsch said after she was crowned Miss Kingston 2009 at last Saturday night’s pageant held at Kingston Middle School.

Hirsch, the daughter of Francie and Deren Hirsch, is a cheerleader at Kingston High School who used her talents to perform a stunt and dance routine that garnered cheers from the audience.

Earning the title of Miss Kingston will give Hirsch a $1,000 scholarship for college.

Along with Hirsch, Jessica Mounts, the daughter of Michael and Deanna DeAscentiis, and Taryn Harris, daughter of Jo and Dayle Harris, were crowned as princesses. Hirsh and Mounts will be seniors at Kingston High School this year, while Harris will be a senior at North Kitsap High.

Each will receive a $500 scholarship. Several other $100 scholarships were also awarded.

For their creative displays, Mounts performed a jazzy salsa dance to Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” and Harris performed a precision drill with rifle and flag. But it was Hirsch’s acrobatic cheer stunts, often being lifted to the very ceiling of the stage, that brought oohs and ahhs from the audience.

Mistress of ceremonies Patrice Holland commented on the danger of the presentation by alerting the audience that the stage would be fully lit for the performer’s safety.

Creative display counts 30 percent toward a contestant’s final score. A personal interview, conducted before the event, also counts 30 percent. In other competition, evening gown counts 10 percent and the impromptu question counts 20 percent. A secret judge adds the final 10 percent to the score.

KHS juniors Leigh Ann Bundang and Corinne Sudduth also competed in the pageant. Bundang performed Nat King Cole’s “Love” and Sudduth recited Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for their creative displays.

One of the pageant highlights was a slide show prepared by Taylor Wall, Miss Kingston 2007, documenting the year that Catherine Pasculli and her court, princesses Sierra Moon and Eva Redfearn, have enjoyed as they attended events as diverse as parades throughout Kitsap and as far away as Leavenworth.

In Pasculli’s outgoing address to the new royalty, she, Moon and Redfearn all commented on how important it had been to learn about each other, enjoy the companionship and develop a close friendship during the year. Pasculli said she hoped and believed the Miss Kingston 2009 court would find they would continue to grow closer during the year.

Moon also talked about how close a bond the girls had developed with Leslie Burns who has been working on the pageant for 20 years, the last 10 years as pageant director.

“She has become like a second mother to us all,” Moon said as tears welled up.

Finally the magic moment arrived and Pasculli placed the Miss Kingston tiara on Hirsch, who took her first walk on the runway as Miss Kingston 2009. As the crowd rose to applaud, she was joined by Mounts and Harris.

Hugging her new court after the pageant was done, Hirsch said, “I’m just so excited about what we have to look forward to this year and am just honored to be representing our town.”