MEDICAL LAKE - A senior high school student was crowned the Lilac Queen at a ceremony at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane, 901 West Sprague Avenue, March 25.
Josephine Ortega, along with six others, was elected to the 2023 "Onward" Royal Court in the culminating ceremony of the The Royalty Scholarship and Training Program.
"Josephine is great. She is a Girl Scout and she is working on her gold award. Later in life, she says she wants to become a teacher." Spokane Lilac Festival Association President, said. Ortega is the daughter of a veteran, which Snow said was the focus of her speech at the ceremony as well.
"All of these young women are intelligent, motivated young leaders in our community." Snow said.
In the late fall of 2023, the Lilac Association asks all the high schools in Spokane county for nominees for participation in the Royalties Scholarship Program.
"These students become our candidate pool." Snow said. The 2023 pool was comprised of 13 candidates, who go on to participate in a 2-month process that develops their community service and leadership abilities.
"It is a fairly robust program, they are meeting two to three times a week from early Jan to late Feb." Snow said.
This training program culminates with all of the candidates giving a speech and making a presentation to several selected judges who determine which of them will be a part of the Royal Court.
Leadership, teamwork, and communication skills, all are things that the association looks for when determining who will be not only part of the Royal Court, but Queen as well.
"Once we have our seven members, we go through more focused training for about a month, at the end of which they will be interviewed and given an opportunity to speak to the judges. After that, we select a Queen and she is coroneted with the rest of the Royal Court." Snow said.
Lucas is a former Cheney Free Press managing editor. He is a nationally published author who contributes regularly to several publications across the country.
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