by Dot Cannon
It was Monday morning, around 9:30. .
Family members, media and supporters were waiting, at Tournament House in Pasadena. And excitement was in the air.
The official PCC Tournament of Roses® Honor Band played festive renditions of “Let’s Groove” and “My Sharona”.
Audience members waved banners supporting family members and friends. Today would be the official announcement of the 2016 Royal Court, for the 127th Rose Parade®.
A joyful scream went up from the audience as Tournament of Roses® Queen and Court Committee Chair Ed Morales took the podium.
“Back in 1905, Hallie Woods was selected as our first Rose Queen®,” Chairman Morales told his listeners. “Since then, choosing a Royal Court has become an annual, honored tradition that hundreds of young people look forward to, every year.”
Chairman Morales said the Queen and Court Committee had begun tryouts for this year’s selection on September 12th. “Over 800 participants tried out this year,” he said, before introducing the finalists from whom the final selection of seven Rose Princesses would be made.
Then he introduced four of last year’s Royal Court members, who would welcome this year’s winners.
Next, the introductions began. Each young woman was escorted in by one of Tournament of Roses®’ 935 White Suiters.
Several minutes later, thirty-nine finalists stood on the steps on Tournament House.
Tournament of Roses® President Mike Matthiesen came to the podium to make the official announcement.
The first 2016 Rose Princess was Donaly Elizabeth Marquez, of Blair High School.
“As soon as I heard, ‘Blair High School’, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m the only girl from Blair,” she said afterwards. “It was a shock. I was amazed.”
Donaly would soon be joined by Sarah Shaklan, Rachelle Liu, Erika Winter, Bryce Bakewell, Regina Pullens and Natalie Hernandez-Barber.
But, Chairman Morales said selecting the seven new Rose Princesses wasn’t easy. “Very difficult decision,…they’re all so incredible,” he said. “There’s eleven of us (Queen and Court Committee members), we do the best job we can, and I think we did a pretty good job this year.”
So, what are some of the factors involved in making a choice? “Probably the most important one is speaking ability,” Chairman Morales said. “Academic achievement, poise, how they present. Those are some of the main qualities we look at.”
That poise and presentation was evident in all the new 2016 Rose Princesses with whom we spoke.
“Making the judges laugh (was one of my favorite experiences so far),” said Natalie Hernandez-Barber. “And I don’t know why, but they laughed at me, but it’s OK, it was good.”
“It’s just been a whirlwind of emotions,” Regina Pullens said, when asked about her experience. “I got up thinking, whatever happens, happens, and when they called my name, it was like a dream come true.”
Regina says her career goal is to go into medicine and become an anesthesiologist, “following my mom”. Meanwhile, Natalie plans to become a broadcaster, while Donaly wants to become either a brain surgeon or an FBI agent.
“Both…include talking to a lot of people, so this is great experience to learn how to do more of that.”
Congratulations to the 2016 Royal Court–and to all the finalists who made it to the final round, from more than 800 contenders! We hope many more dreams come true for you.