Erica Miller with her family when she was crowned Apple Queen in 2013.
Photos of this year's contestants and more about the Apple Queen Pageant will be coming in later Lincoln Herald articles this week.
Wayne Howard Reporter
Thirteen lovely young ladies will compete for the title of Lincoln County Apple Queen at the annual Apple Queen Pageant Saturday night at the James W. Warren Citizens Center, 115 W. Main St. in Lincolnton.
Doors open at 6 PM for the 6:30 PM event. (The Apple Festival website says 7 PM, but we are told that is wrong.) Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children under 12 and for senior citizens, and they will be available at the door, but if you want to avoid waiting in line, you can buy advance tickets at the Lincoln Cultural Center, 403 E. Main Street, this week.
Among the contestants are three who competed in the 2014 pageant: Sara Santiago, Taylor Stamey and last year's first runner-up, Sydney Miller.
Abby Hord, who won the title last August, will crown her successor Saturday night. She succeeded Erica Miller who was selected in 2013. Before Miller, Shanice Street was named Apple Queen in 2012. Street, the second African-American Queen, later became Miss Shelby 2015 and competed in the Miss North Carolina pageant this year.
The Apple Queen Scholarship Pageant is sponsored by the Lincolnton Business & Professional Women's Club. They started the pageant in 1978 at the request of the Lincoln County Apple Growers Association. That group had begun the Lincoln County Apple Festival in 1972 and it was growing each year.
The first Apple Festival was held in the Fellowship Hall at Boger City United Methodist Church. After that, it was moved to the National Guard Armory and entertainment was added. Then the festival was moved to West Lincoln High School Stadium and in 1978 to downtown Lincolnton where it has become the biggest event each year in Lincoln County. The Apple Queen Pageant kicks off the Apple Festival celebration. Festival day is always the third Saturday in September (this year the 19th) but other activities precede the big day--including the Apple Queen Pageant.
This will actually be the 37th Apple Queen Pageant (It would be the 38th, but one Queen reigned two years in the early 1990s when the pageant was a preliminary to the Miss North Carolina contest and didn't have enough contestants to suit the state pageant. The BPW decided to cut ties with that pageant and give larger scholarships to the local winners.)
The thirteen contestants this year will compete for a total of $6,750 in scholarship monies. The Apple Queen Pageant has been the leader in offering scholarships to young women who want to further their education. The Queen is awarded a $3,000 scholarship; the first runner-up receives $1,500; the second runner-up $1,000; and the third runner-up $750. The contestant named Miss Congeniality also receives a scholarship of $500.
The young women who have worn the crown have been varied. There have been two African-American Apple Queens. The tallest Queen ever was most likely Erica Miller--she was definitely the tallest the year she crowned (2013). The current Apple Queen, Abby Hord, may be the shortest. She was definitely so among the contestants last August.
To compete for the title, young women must be residents of Lincoln County. They must be at least a rising senior in high school and no older than 23. The number of entries varies year to year--but the maximum the BPW will accept is 20.
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