A lot of snow, freezing cold temperatures and the popular Winter Carnival constitute a significant legend of winters at Michigan Tech. Although the incredibly detailed snow statues form the major attraction of the Carnival, the Queen’s Coronation holds great significance too. On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 3, while the Huskies progressed further towards building their snow masterpieces, Tech’s finest young ladies competed for the ultimate title: The Queen of the Winter Carnival!
While a winter themed celebration at Tech first commenced in 1922, the Queen’s Coronation was inducted into the list of festivities only six years later. Decades have passed by and the selection of the Queen has evolved from an appearance and snow sport knowledge-based selection to today’s talent performance and skill evaluation. The 2018 competition witnessed eight wonderful ladies, all equally deserving, as they tried to prove their abilities in front of a live audience at the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts. The judges were spoiled for choices as Grace Carey, Cora Taylor, Greta Colford, Amanda Marciniak, Virginia Cistaro, Jessica Geroux, Caroline Spezia and Taylor Dewitt all seemed suitable to bag the prestigious title.
The question and answer section demonstrated the personalities of the contestants as they answered interesting questions with great presence of mind and impressed the audience. Elements of both smartness and wit enthralled the audience as the competitors answered questions like “What fictional character is amazing in their book/show/movie, but would be annoying to hang out with in real life?”, “If your best friend was about to have a baby and told you what the baby’s name would be and you thought that the name was stupid, what would you do?” Each contestant was required to answer two such questions in front of the audience — a true temperament test. This was followed by a talent performance section which evinced the amount of preparation and effort that each of the contestants put in, not only to better their prospects but also to represent their beliefs and serve as an inspiration for the audience. Whether it be Grace’s Irish Dance, Cora’s hotcake chronicles or Caroline’s chemistry experiments, each of the ladies had a story to tell. A story that boasted of its author’s characteristic charisma; words that resonated with their supporters, but strangely had a climax that was to be written by anyone but the author themselves.
Popular comedian, Andrew Sleighter, did an excellent job at keeping the audience entertained while the judges worked towards the final results. Finally, the crowd erupted as the host crowned Cora Taylor as the 2018 Winter Carnival Queen. Miss Taylor, of Delta Phi Epsilon, was sponsored by Swift True Value Hardware. Miss Taylor explained that she felt honored to have received an opportunity this big, to represent Michigan Tech and had an experience that taught her a lot, allowed her to meet some awesome people and that she experienced value addition, both as a student and as a person.
The title went to one, but hearts were won by all eight. Each of them left with some unforgettable memories that shall ring a bell for winters to come.
