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| James Oliver Curwood was born in Owosso, Michigan on June 12, 1878, the son of James M. Curwood and Abigail (Griffin) Curwood. |
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| The Curwood Castle, built by James Oliver Curwood as a writing studio in Owosso, MI, is located in Curwood Castle Park overlooking the Shiawassee River and is open to the public 1-5 p.m. daily except Monday. |
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2011 Curwood Royalty Crowned
On Saturday, March 12 six young women and 10 little girls competed for the titles of Miss Curwood
Festival and Curwood Festival Princess in front of 200+ members of the audience. A very special thanks
to Jeff Simms of Jeffrey Simms Photography for taking the photos of the candidates and the winners.
More pageant photos can be found on his blog at http://blog.jeffreysimms.com/2011/03/13/curwood-2011-pageant/. |
Morgan Walters (middle), 19 of Owosso was named Miss Curwood Festival 2011. Morgan is a
sophomore at the University of Michigan and is studying communications. She is the daughter of Brad &
Rene Walters and is a Corunna High School graduate. Her sponsor was Windmill Pro-Paint.
The 2011 Queen's Court members are Erin Fox and Kristin VanStrate.
Erin Fox (left), 19 of Owosso is a freshman at the University of Michigan where she is studying
communications with a fluency in Spanish and Italian. Erin is an Owosso High School graduate and is the
daughter of Jim & Lisa Fox. Her sponsor was CLH Insurance-Mike Ardelean.
Kristin VanStrate (right), 21, of Owosso is studying business administration at Baker College of Owosso.
An Owosso High School graduate, she is the daughter of Janie & Edward VanStrate. Her sponsor was
VanStrate & Son Plumbing.
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Harper Newell (middle), Is the newly crowned 2011 Curwood Princess. Harper is a nine year old third grader at
Central Elementary School. Her parents are Jeff & Allison Newell. She enjoys soccer, basketball,
gymnastics, and reading.
The 2011 Princess Court members are Lauren Kovach and Kacie Crawford.
Lauren Kovach (left) is a nine year old fourth grader at Elsa Meyer Elementary School. Her parents are
Steven & Megan Kovach. She enjoys reading, fashion designing, competitive dance, and writing.
Kacie Crawford (right) is a nine year old fourth grader at Perry Elementary School. Her parents are Kevin
& Susan Crawford. She enjoys Basketball, cheerleading, softball, and soccer.
All six will reign over the 2011 Curwood Festival, June 2-5, 2011 in downtown Owosso. They will also
attend several parades and events prior to the Curwood Festival.
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The Princess candidates are judged in the morning of the pageant, which accounts for 50% of their
score. Those points are carried over to Saturday night on stage, where the remaining 50% of the
possible points are added in to determine three winners. |
| Queen candidates' scoring breaks down as follows: |
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| Info Session attendance/Essay |
5% |
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| Preliminary panel interviews |
25% |
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| Saturday morning one-on-one interviews |
20% |
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| Saturday morning panel interviews |
20% |
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| Saturday night on stage |
30% |
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| TOTAL |
100% |
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All proceeds from ticket sales help to fund the Queen & Court scholarships. This year, scholarships were
partially underwritten by Paul Davis Restoration-Matt Vondrasek and Northwestern Mutual-Len
Wright. Additional in kind donors for this year's pageant include Baker College of Owosso, Creative
Catering by Dianne, Gayle Green Flowers & Owosso Floral, Schmidt Jewelers, Soundwavz, Images
Forever, Dave & Nina Hall, Ruthy's Cleaners, and Marr's Furniture/Premier Rental.
Gifts were graciously donated by Target Industries, Shiawassee YMCA, Mancino's Pizza & Grinders,
Subway, Spagnuolo Confections, New York Style, Ashleigh's Dance Shack, Soy Beam, Canine Club of
Owosso, J's Tux & Bridal Boutique, Capitol Bowl, Cone Zone, and McDonald's-Van Poppelen
Organization.
The pageant would not take place without the hard work and efforts of many committee members. This
year's Queen & Princess Pageant committee included:
Sarah (Adams) Hoover, Debra (Adams) Mills, Jamie Zmitko-Somers, Kelly (Nequist) Van Poppelen, Kaylee
(Dumond) Luft, Karyn (Wright) DeLorge, Megan (Rogers) Simms, Ashleigh Shack, April Taute, Stephany
Maniscalco, Katrina Whittaker, Jill McNamara, Carrie (Mowen) Miculka, Christie (Dibean) Usher, Krystal
Minarik, Lisa Dexter, Lee Mills, and Jason Hoover.
Special thanks to Ashleigh Shack & Ruben Servantes for hosting lunch on Saturday at Ashleigh's Dance
Shack, and Board of Directors member Jason Nequist for assisting with stage set up on Friday night. |
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