Pioneer Days Queen, Jr. Queens and Princesses contestants. Photo by Nichole Aranda
Kearny’s 63rd Annual Pioneer Days is forthcoming, and in usual tradition, that means the competition for the Annual Pioneer Days Queen and Princess is on! This year, 12 prospective young ladies are hoping for that coveted crown.
There is one candidate for Queen, Kyleigh Adkins. Kylie is from Hayden, AZ, a Junior and Honor Roll Student at Winkelman Prep, and the daughter of Zenaida and Shawn Allen. She loves being a member of Junior Chamber. In her spare time, Kyleigh loves to draw and enjoys singing. She enjoys playing volleyball and basketball at local parks as well as at church. She loves volunteering her time whenever she can find a place to help. Her plan for the future includes “becoming a cosmetologist and using those skills to help those in need.” Kyleigh says she wants to be Pioneer Days Queen this year to prove she can “break out of her shell and be more outgoing.”
We have 5 hopefuls for Jr. Queen: Mattisyn Granillo, Cenlie McCroskey, Megan Miller, Serenity Quesada, and Neveah VanGorden.
Mattisyn is from Kearny, AZ, a 7th grade honor roll student at Ray Jr/Sr High School, and the daughter of Ericka Granillo. She is involved in the school’s volleyball, softball, and band programs. In her spare time, she enjoys hunting. Her future plans involve attending ASU to become a nurse. She says she would like to be Jr. Queen to “inspire her little sister.”
Cenlie is from Kearny, AZ, a 7th grade student at Ray Jr/Sr High School and the daughter of Joe and Jodie McCroskey. She is involved in the school’s volleyball program and loves spending time with her friends and family. In the future, Cenlie plans on being a Marine Biologist. She says she wanted to run for Jr. Queen because it was “something she had never done before, and it seemed like a fun idea.”
Megan Miller is from Kearny, AZ, an 8th grader at Leonor Hambly K8, and the daughter of Jennifer and Tory Boyd-England. Megan is involved in the school’s Volleyball, basketball and softball teams. In her spare time, Megan enjoys playing sports and reading. In the future she plans on “becoming an RN and traveling.” She says she wanted to run for Jr. Queen to “make new friends and gain new experiences.”
Serenity Quesada is from Winkelman, AZ, a 6th grader at Leonor Hambly K8, and the daughter of Orlando Quesada. In school, Serenity is involved with Cheer, Wrestling, Softball and Volleyball and enjoys school, sports and makeup. In the future, Serenity plans on “attending college and starting her own business.” She says the reason she wanted to run for Jr. Queen was because “the opportunity sounded fun and was a good opportunity to dress up.”
Neveah VanGorden is from Kearny, AZ, a 7th grader at Ray Jr/Sr High School, and the daughter of Eric and Brittany VanGorden. In school Neveah is a member of the Volleyball team and enjoys hanging out at the park. In the future she plans on attending college to study Marine Biology. She says she wanted to run for Jr. Queen again because “it was fun last year and gives her something to do.”
This year there are 6 hopefuls for Pioneer Day Princess: Keikikalani Gaona, Camilla Garcia, Bryleigh Henderson, Alessandra Islava, Mardicella Monroy, and Alexia Perez.
Keikikalani Gaona is from the Hayden/Winkelman area, a 6th grader at Leonor Hambly K8, and the daughter of Nicholas and Candice Garcia. Keiki has 3 siblings, a younger brother and sister and an older sister. She has one pet, a dog named Hunny. She says in her spare time she likes to “play with her siblings, wrestle, go on walks, hang out with her friends and bake.” She says when she grows up, she “wants to be someone who helps other people.” She says she wanted to run for Pioneer Days Princess because it would be fun, would have something to do, and a chance to make new friends.
Camilia Garcia is from Kearny, AZ, a 5th grade student at Ray Elementary, and is the daughter of Adelaida N. Garcia. She has an older brother, Ethan Sullivan (17) and a younger brother, Victor Sullivan (3) and a pet cat named Fortune Cookie. Camilia says her favorite vacation was a trip to her aunt and uncles house in Seattle, WA where they went on a boat ride and saw whales. They also got to see the Seattle Hawks, went on hikes, and collected seashells at the beach. She says when she grows up, she wants to be like her mom and join the Air Force. She said she wanted to run for Princess because “I wanted to do community service, have fun, and start new friendships.”
Bryleigh is from Kearny, AZ, a 5th grade student at Winkelman Prep, and the daughter of Josh and Ashlye Lerma. She has 1 younger sister, Sophia (3) and 2 dogs, Wookie and Shotgun. Her favorite things to do in her spare time is ride horses and shoot her bow. When she grows up, she would like to be a K-9 Officer. Bryleigh says she wanted to run for Princess because “I wanted to have fun meeting new girls and learning new things.”
Allessandra is from Winkelman, AZ, a 5th grade student at Leonor Hambly K8 and the daughter of Jorge Islava and Karla Magallanez. She has 1 older brother, Aiden and a dog, Milo. She says her favorite thing to do is to just be with her friends. Allesandra would like to get a job at Raisin’ Canes. She says she wanted to run for Princess “just to try something new.”
Mardicella is from San Manuel, AZ, a 5th grade student at Leonor Hambly K8 and the daughter of Joshua and Lupita Monroy. Mardicella is a middle child and has 3 brothers and 1 sister. She has 4 dogs, 2 of which are rescues. She says her favorite thing to do is hangout with her friends and play volleyball. When she grows up, she inspires to become a doctor. When asked why she chose to run for Princess, she says “I was inspired by my older cousin.”
Alexia is from Mammoth, AZ, a 6th grade student at Leonor Hambly K8, and the daughter of Priscilla Perez. She has 2 younger siblings and 2 dogs, Tik and Bunny. She says in her spare time she like “to sleep and talk to my friends and family.” When Alexia grows up, she would like to become a nurse. When asked why she wanted to run for Princess she said, “For Fun.”
In our eyes, no matter which girls walk away with the coveted crowns, they are all winners and a great group of young women to represent everything Pioneer Days stands for.
These girls will be hosting their annual fashion show March 1 at the General Kearny Inn, time still to be determined. The girls will also be out and about in the area selling raffle tickets. Crowning for these girls will be held Thursday, March 6, 2025, at the Pioneer Park Stage in Kearny. Please come out and support these hopefuls! Good luck, ladies!