Sr's 92-HOMECOMING QUEEN (part 3)

THE BIG DAY IS HERE!!!  10/4/91
I did not sleep well the night before for I was so excited about what was to come. The day was to be filled with such excitement. I prayed the day would go smoothly, but did not forget to give God so many thanks for the blessed day!

CORONATION ASSEMBLYI got up in time to eat, put on a pink and white vertical stripped buttoned blouse (I hardly ever wore shirts that buttoned (still don’t), because my fine motor skills sucked (still do)), and off my mom and I went to the hairdresser's to get my hair done for the coronation assembly that morning. My Dad left in the opposite direction to go get my dress fluffed at the dry cleaners. A friend of mine at the time(from Camp) met us at the shop to put on my make up. Keeta made my hair look beautiful in a eloquent updo

, and off I went to school. I went into a big room where all of the attendants were getting dressed and everything. I had tons of help getting in to my dress, and my slick white dress shoes. I was just praying I did not slip on those slick white dress shoes! Because I was physically disabled there were lots of revisions made throughout the whole day, and thank God for me! It gave me a chance to make fewer mistakes. I will tell you about them as I am talking about it. I was carried backstage into the auditorium and sat on a white wicker chair with royal blue ribbons weaved on the outside of the chair (school colors). Usually the homecoming queen walks down the aisle, but we can all picture how that would turn out! They gave me a long royal blue velvet robe that was tradition to wear. They helped me to place it where it would show, but not be sitting on it. The curtains remained closed as the audience made it to their seats. I could just hear a lot of commotion, and it made me nervous. Some of the band members began tooting their horns, and the curtains opened up. I was all by myself on the stage. I thought about making weird faces so everyone would laugh thinking that would calm my nerves, but I just sat there smiling.

Introductions of the royal court were first. The male attendants (called the braves, the warriors was our mascot) wore black tuxes with royal blue cumber buns and ties, and the Senior female attendants were wearing white gowns, and the other attendants wore royal blue gowns.

 

                                     (CAPTION:  Sr Brave LaFredreick & Attendant Kristy)

                                                 (CAPTION: Sr. Brave Steve & Staci)
They walked down the aisle together to the stage, and stood in a staircase formation with the Seniors on the top row and so forth. Next was the crown bearer (Bubba’s sis, 7 I think) wearing a white gown and carrying a white satin pillow that held my crown, and the spirit leader which was a senior who wore Indian clothes and carried a lance (tall brown spirit stick with feathers on it) came after.

After they were on stage the King (Bubba) came down the aisle looking sharp in his white tux as the audience stood to their feet.

After he was on stage they recognized me by standing to their feet and clapping.

 

The coronation began with the naming of the former Kings and Queens.

                                           
A local TV station even came to film a segment for the news! Then a song was then sang giving tribute to me, I felt so special. One of my friends in choir (shout out to Laura), Wendy, asked to sing during the assembly. She had a voice that would make Simon Cowell cry, Paula Abdul give her the biggest seal clap, and Randy Jackson call out all the dawgs for her if she were on American Idol! She had approached me earlier about wanting to sing, but that she would keep the song a secret until the day she performed it. As the song started I immediately got teary-eyed. It was "The Wind Beneath My Wings," by Bette Midler. I cannot hear that song now without it giving me major goosebumps.

 

It was now time for me to get the football from one of the senior attendants (it was suppose to bring good luck for the game for me to touch it, go figure). It is usually thrown to the homecoming queen, but as we know I can't even hit the broad side of a barn! For safety reasons he just handed me the football!

Then it came time for the crowning. Ladies first, so Bubba grabbed the crown from the white satin pillow that the crown bearer had, and place to it on my head. Being a typical male he was not noticing where to place the crown, and smashed it down right in the middle of my bangs! God love him, but he probably did the right thing to keep it in place with all of the hairspray going on there! At that moment I was crowned Miss Daniel Webster the 54th!!

I was asked to give an acceptance speech. As I mentioned earlier this speech was short but sweet. I had practiced it many times at home. But the minute those first few words came out of my mouth “I want to start by thanking my mom and dad…" I began to cry. What short speech I had left my brain with the tears. Bubba came prepared and handed me a Kleenex from his pocket. I tried to gather my thoughts and hold myself together so I wouldn’t look like Tammy Faye Baker! It was all a blur as to what I said, but I got through it! One of my really good friends to this day, Ricky, still gives me a hard time about the speech saying he was hungry, and that they couldn't leave because my speech was so long. He says I was thanking everybody and their brother, even the blades of grass! He cracks me up. It was Bubba's turn to be crowned. This crown was not the typical one that you usually see, but it was an Indian headdress with blue and white feathers. It looked heavy, but Bubba pulled it off very nicely. No, I did not place the headdress on his head. I would have knocked his eye out if I tried! He was then crowned Warrior Chief the 47th! He did an awesome job on his speech. This was a good thing, because I did not have any Kleenex for him! I was given a scepter while Bubba was given the lance. We had a few lines we had to say from memory and I was so nervous that I would forget them. But everything worked out smoothly. Due to the fact that everyone from the royal court had family and friends there to watch the coronation assembly made for not enough room to have the whole student body in the auditorium at one time. So there was two assemblies. We did the same in both with the exception of me not crying when I gave my speech the second time around. Nothing embarrassing happened so far. It all seemed so surreal to me.

                                                       (CAPTION: Dad, Mom, and I)

I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A TOAST….After the coronation assembly we went upstairs to the library for a reception with cake and punch. No, Bubba and I did not feed each other cake! This was not a wedding reception silly! I did not really eat or drink much for fear of spilling it on my white dress (which would've happened believe me). This was a chance to talk with the guests who came to see us at the assembly. I got tons of compliments on my dress!! It was nice (I did not embarrass myself thank you God!), but of course we were only there for may be an hour and a half because we had somewhere to be….


A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS…

After the reception we made our way to the picture studio to get our royal court pictures on! They were mainly taken for the yearbook, but we also took individual pictures as well. They brought the white wicker chair that I sat in during the assemblies for me to use for the group pictures. We had fun with the group pictures as we were singing the popular country song at the time, "Shameless," by Garth Brook's! YEEHAW!! Bubba and I took pictures together where I would just sit on a barstool with no back. I was confident that Bubba had my back (hehe), and was not going to let me fall backwards.
For my individual picture they had me set on this golden bench kind of sideways, and they spread out my dress to make it look full and to show off the pretty ruffles. They laid the scepter and dozen red roses beside me. You could even see my slick white dress shoes!
The picture turned out good and the 8X10 is sitting on the entertainment center in my parent's living room as we speak in a very nice frosty glass frame. No embarrassing yet! After the picture taking we were all hungry, and decided to meet up at a Mexican restaurant. But before we could do that we went home to change…

 

 GETTING OUR GRUB ON…After going home to change food was the first thing on my mind, and my stomach was making sure I knew that! The atmosphere of the restaurant, Casa Bonitas, could not have been more perfect. It was a very fun place with all different kinds of rooms you could eat in. They had a game room were you could win tokens to get prizes. A great place for all of us to uwind after an exhausting morn! You could be yourself and it was okay. You didn’t have to be stiff and proper. It was good for me because I know I spilled my Spanish rice on me and on the floor! I remember them having the best sopapillas! We were so busy getting our grub on that no one thought of bringing a camera!  As we left there we headed home to rest up for the evening halftime show…

TO REST OR NOT TO REST…It was nice to put on a long t-shirt, curl up on the couch with a blanket, and rest my eyes for a couple of hours while watching TV. I was not (and am still not) a napper, but resting I can handle. While I was resting the school called my parents to tell them that a limo service saw my article in the paper that morning, and would like to give me a ride in their limo to the halftime football game. They wanted to present me on the field in the limo, but the school would not let vehicles on to the playing field. So they agreed to drop me off onto the school campus. So I put back on the pink vertical stripped buttoned shirt and headed back to my hairdresser’s shop to get my hair and makeup freshened up. My hair had been laid on, and my bangs were squashed from the crown. After it was all set we headed home so the limo could pick me up. As I got dressed I knew I would be standing on the field so I needed to be sure I had that extra support. I wore my Reebok white hightop tennies! SSHHH don’t tell!! My dress went to the floor so you didn't see them anyway. I also wore jeans under my dress for it was cold that day (October 4, 1991), and my bones had a hard time acting right in the cold. I knew we would be outside for the game, and I wanted to stay as warm as possible. As the limo arrived at my house I could see some of my neighbors standing outside to get a glimpse. I felt like a celebrity! I asked for some bubbly and strawberries, but they jokingly told me they left them at their building! SHUCKS, LOL!!  Sad to say for but I do not have any pictures of this either! It was my first limo ride too, happy one at least!...

TOUCHDOWN!!!As the limo arrived in the circle drive to drop me off in front of the school the football game was in the first quarter. Some of my friends were waiting for me as I got out of the car. Most of the royal court met me there. Some of the guys were football players. Another revision came at this time for as we got ready to go to the field I rode a golf cart! I did not drive and that was a blessing! The driver's ed teacher did that one (How perfect)! When we got there the second quarter was about to be over, so we ended up huddling close together until time. It was so cold. The driver's ed teacher even gave me his thick leather jacket to put around my arms.

The local news station was at the game to catch a spot for the evening news. They had interviewed my Mom, my dad, and I. We had to go around to the opposing side and walk/roll down the 50 yard line. The driver's ed teacher and I were jokingly talking about knocking down some of the opposing players along the way! Bubba was walking beside me in the cart, and the rest of the royal court followed behind us. When we reached our mark everyone stood on a stage and was introduced. But Bubba and I took a different approach! He helped me to get out of the cart and we walked a few steps under a white arc. They announced my name and the crowd went wild. Shivers went down my bended spine! I teared up for I couldn't believe that they were for me. I never wanted that feeling to go away. It was almost like I completely forgot that I was standing. I was not worried about anything at that moment. After that we all stood in front of the stadium on the field. I had a death grip I'm sure on Bubba's arm along with one of the other braves as we sang the alma mater..."MID THE HILLS OF OKLAHOMA..."! I sat in the stands for some of the second half of the game and visited with some folks before proceeding to the gymnasium for the dance. God love the Warriors football team as  for for  for for we did not win the game that night…

IF BUBBA CAN DANCE I CAN TOO!.. (fyi, it is the title of a country song)As I entered into the gymnasium I saw a beautiful water fountain that was lit up in the center of the room. They had an arc that was decorated with navy blue and white balloons. There were big signs on the wall done beautifully by one of the Seniors!

(CAPTION: This picture cracks me up when I look at it because it reminds me of that scene in the movie 16 candles where there is a line of students standing against the gymnasium wall at the dance!)

 It was all decorated so awesome! It seemed like I had been waiting forever for Bubba to arrive so we could dance the first slow dance together. I was wore out. Bubba and a couple of the other football players who were on the royal court had to shower and change into their tuxes before coming to the dance. Thank God for me and the other gals, holding on to football sweat was not a good cup of tea! Gave me time to visit w/ fam & friends who came.

 

Right before they came the DJ came over to me, and asked if there was a slow song I would like for him to play. The slow song that was really popular at the time was "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. I really liked that song, and so that is the one I chose. When Bubba and the other guys arrived we all stood behind an arc made of royal blue & white balloons, and as we were introduced we walked under the arc. The freshmen attendants and Braves were introduced first and so on. I knew that this was the most nerve-racking moment for Bubba for fear of dropping me. I tried to assure him that if anything happens it is not his fault. I was nervous for myself, because I was very tired. Standing is not the best option for me when I am physically tired. It was a good thing I had on my Reeboks. We were the last to be introduced, and there was lots of hollering and clapping. That gave me my second wind to get through the dance.

We went to the middle of the dance floor by the fountain, and I put my arms around his neck. He put his arms tightly around my waist. He held me so tight to make sure that I didn't fall that I had bruises on my rib cage! Just kidding, but he did have a pretty good grip on me which made me feel secure.

Somewhere in the middle of the song he said to me, "They had to pick the longest song!" I didn't realize how long that song was, and I wasn't about to tell him it was me who picked it out. I just agreed with him, and changed the subject LOL!

As the song ended you could hear somebody yelling, "Dip her Bubba!" I felt as though I was floating on a cloud the whole time. I remember thinking I just danced with a cute boy!! We stayed there for a few songs then headed for home.

Several friends of mine (from Camp) ended up staying the night at my house. One of my aunt's lent us her camcorder for the day so we watched everything that went on. It was like a dream, and I felt that if I went to sleep I would forget. I could not have asked for a better day, and filled with no mistakes! Bubba let me have majority of the spotlight that day, and for that I cannot thank him enough! What wonderful memories!! Because of the newspaper articles and TV interviews I was kind of a local celebrity. I was recognized for a while after.

This was a long one I know, but thanks for taking the time to read, Miss S