Outside it was hot enough on Sunday to roast a garlic bulb. But
inside the Gavilan College Theater, the five contestants vying to
be Miss Gilroy Garlic remained cool and collected
– right through the crowning of 22-year-old Jessica Brewka as
the new queen.
Outside it was hot enough on Sunday to roast a garlic bulb. But inside the Gavilan College Theater, the five contestants vying to be Miss Gilroy Garlic remained cool and collected – right through the crowning of 22-year-old Jessica Brewka as the new queen.
The Morgan Hill resident, who was named first runner-up last year and who will graduate from the University of San Francisco later this week, competed against four other women, including her younger sister, Julia Brewka, 19, at the 31st annual Miss Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen Pageant. Having sibling contestants compete was a pageant first.
As queen, the English major who aspires to be a high school English teacher, won a $1,000 scholarship, will preside over the Gilroy Garlic Festival July 24-26 and will travel to Gilroy’s sister city, Takko-Machi, Japan for their annual garlic and beef festival. Having never been to Japan before, she said it has always been a dream of hers to go.
“I cried. I am just really proud of them,” said their grandmother, Eileen Shipp, of Gilroy. “It takes a lot to get up there and do what they did. They’re both lovely young ladies. They’re sweet girls.”
However, the eldest Brewka tried not to come across as sweet during the speech portion of the competition. Dressed as a no-nonsense drill sergeant, she commanded her troops of garlic cloves before the Garlic Festival, “You’d better stink, and you’d better stink good.”
In the talent portion of the contest, judges awarded Brewka the highest score for her performance of Kristin Chenoweth’s “Taylor the Latte Boy,” a comical song about a woman’s relationship with her barista.
First runner-up was Lauren Iwanaga, 22, of Gilroy and second runner-up was Tiffani Petersen, 18, of Gilroy. Toni Eves, 20, of Gilroy was voted Miss Congeniality by fellow contestants. Iwanaga – who graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and will return to school in June for her teaching credential – made the auditorium her classroom with a speech called “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? Garlic Festival Edition.” Judges gave her speech the highest score.
For her speech “Garlic Etiquette from Grandma,” Petersen dressed like an elderly woman and walked with a cane. Her inspiration for the speech was her own great-grandmother.
“I was wearing her clothes,” Petersen said. “I remember thinking how funny she is. I told her I wasn’t making fun of her – it was a dedication to her.”
Perhaps the toughest role of the evening was played by the five judges.
“It was hard,” said judge Judy Lazarus. “Honestly, I had no clue as to who was going to end up with the crown. I was just as surprised as everyone else.”
Prior to the pageant, contestants sat down for 15-minute interviews with the judges, which comprised 40 percent of their overall score.
“I was very impressed,” Lazarus said. “They were all very eloquent.”
The three other portions of the competition counted for 20 percent each. During the talent portion, the acts ranged from Iwanaga’s jazz dance number performed to Bette Midler’s “Stuff Like That There” to Petersen’s saber routine, choreographed to The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” The audience was on edge hoping she wouldn’t drop the saber, which eight years of practice with the Live Oak Emerald Regime Marching Band and Color Guard helped prevent.
“I was trying to keep calm, and I was shaking the entire time,” Petersen said.
Making the pageant program run smoothly was all of the practice the women had put in beforehand, rehearsing their talent and learning Garlic Festival knowledge.
“The girls work very hard,” pageant Chairwoman Cindy Fellows said. “They prepare for six weeks. It’s very intense. They really practice.”
Then came the unscripted moment when the contestants floated on stage in their evening gowns and emcee Sam Chuck asked them an impromptu question. The questions included “Explain why the flame-up is an important part of the Garlic Festival?” and “How would you convince someone to try garlic ice cream?” To the latter, Petersen likened it to how her parents encouraged her to eat vegetables. “Try it once.”
Outgoing queen Ariele Combs showed a slide show of her year of royalty and helped crown the new queen and her court. The ensemble will embark on a busy few months before the Gilroy Garlic Festival, doing radio interviews and television spots and making community appearances at events such as the Gilroy Memorial Day Parade and the Morgan Hill 4th of July Parade.
Brewka knows the drill, though, since she was first runner-up in last year’s pageant.
“I had so much fun doing it last year and doing all of the events,” she said. “I just decided my summer wouldn’t be the same.”
For her question, she was asked, “What makes the Garlic festival so unique?”
“The community backing,” Brewka answered. “And it’s just a really great time for everyone that goes.”
Scholarships awarded
Garlic Festival Association: Jessica Brewka – $1,000; Lauren Iwanaga – $500; Tiffani Petersen – $250
Gilroy Rotary –$1,000: Julia Brewka
Past Queens – $750: Tiffani Petersen
ConAgra – $500: Tiffani Petersen
Founding Fathers – $500: Lauren Iwanaga
Past Presidents – $400 each: Jessica Brewka, Tiffani Petersen
