St. Mary's senior named Miss Sleepy Eye

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

SLEEPY EYE -- Rachel Heiderscheidt got a surprise Saturday night when she was crowned Miss Sleepy Eye 2004.

She was one of seven contestants who entered this year's pageant, which is 50 years in the making.

Earlier in the evening, a crowd of parents, friends and family members packed the ballroom at the Orchid Inn for the annual event sponsored by the Sleepy Eye Jaycees.

The program started at 7:30 p.m. with a short introduction of each candidate from emcee Scott DeMaris and a walk around the ballroom floor on the arm of an escort.

The 2004 Minneapolis Aquatennial Queen of The Lakes, Sandra Vucinovich, presented Amanda Spaeth, Miss Sleepy Eye 2003, with the Queen's Charm in recognition of the fact that Sleepy Eye has been sending candidates to the Aquatennial for 50 years, which is one of the longest traditions in Minnesota.

Each of the seven candidates then had to answer a question--What makes you most proud to be from Sleepy Eye?

Most candidates answered that it's the city's sense of community and supportive attitude that make them most proud, but some others felt it is Sleepy Eye's schools, locally owned businesses, friendliness, patriotism, hospitality and its overall feeling of security that made them proud to come from Sleepy Eye.

After the questioned, the two judges adjourned to the hotel's conference room, while Spaeth made a few remarks. Aquatennial Commodore Jim Erickson made Tim and Karen Beech honorary commodores for their efforts in maintaining the Orchid Inn, which Erickson said is "a landmark in south-central Minnesota."

The judges returned with their six semi-finalists after a bit of floor dancing by a girl's dance troupe.

They picked Heiderscheidt, Sarah Ibberson, Crystal Neid, Sadie Sabatino, Raina Walter and Maria Wenner to go on to the next round, which was an impromptu question drawn from a wicker basket.

The judges deliberated once again and came back with the finalists. They picked Wenner for second runner-up, Sabatino for first runner-up and crowned Heiderscheidt as Miss Sleepy Eye 2004.

"I was totally surprised," Heiderscheidt said about the judges' decision. "I did not expect this at all."

Heiderscheidt, who is 18 years old and a senior at Sleepy Eye St. Mary's High School, said she plans to study public relations and journalism at either Minnesota State University-Mankato or the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.