While most contestants, including winner Alika Spencer, were
battling their nerves on stage at the 2004 Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen
Pageant, Courtney Love Gavin was playing to the crowd.
While she said she was nervous in the weeks before the pageant,
the Live Oak High School senior showed no signs of fear Saturday
night.
While most contestants, including winner Alika Spencer, were battling their nerves on stage at the 2004 Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen Pageant, Courtney Love Gavin was playing to the crowd.
While she said she was nervous in the weeks before the pageant, the Live Oak High School senior showed no signs of fear Saturday night. Gavin made a mostly filled Gavilan Theater roll with laughter as she pulled of a ventrilliquism act of sorts as an English newscaster and imitated Saturday Night Live character Mary Catherine Gallagher, Superstar.
“I was laughing, smiling and having a good time,” Gavin said. “This is my first, and probably my last, beauty pageant. It’s what you make of it.”
Her comedy routines landed her awards for best garlic speech and best talent as she earned first runner-up to 2004 Garlic Queen Spencer.
Spencer, also a Live Oak High School senior, battled her own bout of nervousness during her garlic speech, ‘A Clove’s Life,’ to take home the crown and a $1,000 scholarship.
“I was forgetting my words, skipping over parts, and I was afraid I might turn the wrong page,” Spencer said about her skit, in which she dressed up as ‘Chloe Clovette’ and took the audience through a storybook tale of the history and life of a garlic clove.
Spencer will have plenty of opportunities to get the speech just right, as she will be doing it more times than she cares to think about at events leading up to the Garlic Festival.
“I’m really excited about the festival and going to Japan,” she said. “My great grandfather was Japanese, and I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and Thailand.”
Because the Garlic Queen is invited to visit Gilroy’s Japanese sister city, Takko-Machi, she will get to fulfill one of those dreams.
The San Martin resident, who hopes to study musical theater after graduation, also sang an emotional rendition of Fantine’s song, “I Dreamed a Dream,” from “Les Miserables” as her talent.
Spencer, who along with her parents is involved South Valley Civic Theatre, was asked to enter the pageant while rehearsing for the Live Oak’s production of “West Side Story.”
“My parents helped a lot,” Spencer said. “They were really supportive.”
The pageant is judged 40 percent on an interview with judges earlier in the day, and 20 percent each for talent, garlic speech and evening gown competitions. Ten women entered the pageant with an opportunity to earn scholarships for college.
“It’s a great experience, so the more girls that can do it, the better,” Queen Pageant Chairwoman Kim Lemos said. “It takes a very special person to put herself out there in front of all those people.”
Lemos said the garlic speech is what sets the pageant apart from others.
“There’s not another pageant that has that element,” she said. “I think that’s what makes this pageant unique and special.”
Helping to put on the show were assistant chairwoman Traci Dalke, Grayce Smith, stage managers Elaine Bonino, Sam Conaty and Phyllis Bartu, and 2003 pageant runner-up Lisa Ramsey.
“It really takes a lot of help from a lot of people,” Lemos said.
Last year’s garlic queen, Melissa Noto, who emceed the pageant, said this year’s court has much to look forward to.
“It’s such a great experience,” she said. “It’s just a conglomeration of memories: the court, the festival, going to Japan.”
Noto said she was impressed with this year’s court and said Spencer will make a great queen for the 26th Garlic Festival, which takes place July 23 through 25.
“She’s definitely qualified,” she said. “All of them will represent Gilroy well.”
