Pots of bright yellow flowers were strewn along the front of the stage at Life Center. The Master and Mistress of ceremonies were dressed to the nines. The princesses were all dressed in bright yellow gowns with tight waists, scooped necklines and full hoop skirts. They were each introduced by their escorts who told a bit about themselves and their plans for their education before introducing their lovely young ladies with effusive adjectives.

The theme of this year’s Daffodil Pageant is The Magic of Music. While giving their speeches, two of the princesses broke into song. Many noted they played musical instruments. One was the daughter of a former Daffodil princess. Another was skilled with firearms and might possibly be an Olympic contender in the near future.

The impromptu question for the night asked each princess to tell what they felt was magical about the Daffodil Festival. Anna Kessner of Spanaway Lake said the festival was, “Happy and shiny just like the color yellow.” Two mentioned having spent portions of their childhood in foster care. Taylor Friend of Bonney Lake said the magic for her was, “All those smiles from the children. They look up to us, admire us  and imagine they can be us one day.  Indeed, there were several young girls clinging to the rail of the balcony watching intently as the princesses performed their song and dance after the speeches.

There were cheering sections for each princess dotted around the audience. Many had exuberant classmates watching, hooting and carrying on as their princess came on stage.

Just before the 2012 Queen was introduced to give her farewell speech, the CEO of the festival was on stage to give thank you’s to sponsors and to announce that KING TV was going to cover the parade live this year. The room lit up with applause and cheers. It has been several years since it was carried live and obviously the coverage has been missed in the county. Thank you KING 5.

Kayla Pruitt of Curtis was awarded Miss Congeniality and was also the first runner-up. The second runner-up was Grace Collins of Fife.

Then it was time to make the announcement everyone was waiting for… Roger High School will be the home of the 2013 Daffodil Festival Queen, McKenna Erhardt.

Congratulations to an amazing group of young ladies.