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Pioneer Days Queen and Jr. Queen Contestants are, from left: Trinity Olson, Allison Ballard, Lanna Brady, August Patterson, Isabella Mendoza and Kailey Gillaspy.
Angela Ramirez | Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce
The 2014 Pioneer Day Queen contestants have been hard at work for several weeks earning points to see who will earn the crowns.
Along with selling raffle tickets, the girls will compete in a fashion show and speech contest this Saturday during the Women’s Expo.
Although there is just one contestant entered this year in the Sr. Queen division, she is still required to adhere to the rules of the contest to earn her crown. Meanwhile, five young ladies are competing for the Jr. Queen crown.
August L. Patterson is working to wear the Sr. crown and vying for the Jr. crown are Allison Ballard, Lanna Rae (Long) Brady, Kailey Gillaspsy, Isabella Marie Mendoza and Trinity Hope Olson.
August is the daughter of Dustin and Julie Patterson of Kearny. She is 15 years old and is a freshman at Ray High School.
Her school activities include playing volleyball and softball and serving as treasurer of her class. She also was named to the Honor Roll last semester.
She says she enjoys many hobbies including drawing and hiking. “I also like shooting shot guns, but I’d rather draw back a bow and land an arrow in the target,” August said.
Her hopes for the future are definitely to graduate from high school and go to college. She would prefer to go directly to an university to study for the career of a forensic scientist, but would consider starting at the junior college level and transferring. Her school of choice at this time is GCU because of its outstanding forensic program.
She decided to run for Pioneer Days Queen because it is something she wouldn’t normally do. “I want to get out there and help the community,” she said. “I want to show people that I do have a voice and because I’m not very out spoken, I want to change that about myself,” she added.
Allison is 14, is an eighth grader at Ray Jr. High and is the daughter of Terra Ballard of Kearny and Gary Ballard.
She is a honor roll student and was on the student council in the fifth and sixth grade. She was a cheerleader and is currently in band. She also has played volleyball for the last two years, softball last year and participated in track in the sixth grade and again this year.
She volunteers at her church with various activities including making bulletin boards and posters and cleaning. She also helps her mom do paperwork at the prison.
Her hobbies include playing sports and she likes to make people happy. During church she also likes doing puppet show for Leadership Training for Christ.
As to her future plans, she said she would like to stride for a scholarship in volleyball at ASU to study to become a teacher or animal cop.
When asked why she wanted to enter the contest she said, “I want to put myself out there and have a lot of fun.”
Lanna, 14, attend Ray Jr. High where she is in the eighth grade. She is the daughter of Michelle Brady of Kearny and Paul Long.
Her school activities include volleyball, basketball, softball and track and she also helps out in the school library. And her hobbies include reading a track.
Her future plans include getting into George Town University where she would like to study to become a pediatric oncologist.
She decided to run for the Jr. crown because, “I would love to try something new, also to get to know what the people in my community are like.”
Kailey is the daughter of Samuel and Michelle Gillaspy of Kearny and Kimberly Gillaspy. She is 12 years old and is a seventh grader at Ray Jr. High where she is a honor roll student, a band member and plays softball.
She is active in her church with Mutual on Wednesdays and Thursdays. And she likes to paint, play basketball, volleyball, softball and run track. She also loves to decorate everything.
She would like to attend ASU after high school and then go to EMT classes. “I would like my big sister Kara and be a dispatcher and then move up a step to become a cop,” she said.
Her reasons for entering the contest include getting to help people and helping the community with as much as she can. “I would for people to maybe remember me as something more than I already am,” she said.
Isabella, 14, is the daughter of Maria Acevedo of Kearny and is in the eighth grade at Ray Jr. High.
She has played basketball and volleyball for the last two years and is currently a Student Council representative for her class.
She is an active member of the Infant Jesus of Prague Catholic Church where she has been an altar server and youth lector. She said as she continues her religious education she would hopes to become a Sunday school teacher.
Her hobbies include spending time with her family and friends, listening to music and baking.
Her goals for the future are to graduate from high school and attend ASU to pursue a degree in Elementary Education. “My hope is to educate the future of the world,” she said.
She wanted to run for Jr. Queen because she wants to be an active member of society. “I would like to one day change the world and this is the first step in that direction,” she said. She added that she would like to thank the Copper Basin community for this wonderful opportunity.
Trinity is the daughter of Michelle Brady and Olin Olson of Kearny. She is 13 and is in the seventh grade at Ray Jr. High where she plays softball, soccer and flag football.
Her community service includes helping the elderly with house hold chores.
She likes to play softball, soccer and catch with her dad and also enjoys drawing.
After high school she would like to attend Harvard and study to become a lawyer.
“I wanted to try something new,” she said when asked why she decided to enter the contest.
These girls need the support of the community, so if you see them out and about please purchase a ticket or two. The Queen Crowning is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 20.
Compiled by Vicki Clark
Vicki started her career in the journalism field while attending Ray High School in Kearny with an excellent teacher who took her by the hand and guided her. She worked on the school newspaper and as a senior was a co-editor. Her dream was to go on to college to study journalism and eventually to travel the world reporting the news. This dream was interrupted by life circumstances. She stayed in Kearny and went to work for the Copper Basin News in 1964 as a typesetter. Her editor was Ira Q. Toler and he also was a good teacher. After marrying and having children, her desires to again work in the newspaper field surfaced. She responded to an ad for a position in advertising for the Copper Basin News which included selling, lay-out and design. She was hired on the spot. The business has greatly changed with technology and the introduction of desktop publishing. She was fortunate enough to be a part of it. She has now worked for Copper Area News Publishers on and off for over 30 years, starting when John Seater was the publisher. She has held many positions over the years, but is most proud to be named a reporter. She loves to write and is so grateful for being given that chance.
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