New Royalty Reflects on Year Ahead

After months of preparation, practice, and hard work, the Miss Deer Park Scholarship Program event culminated in the announcement of the winners to a packed Deer Park High School auditorium on March 14. Lilla Karlsson was crowned  Miss Deer Park alongside princesses Aubrey Longly and Amber Coe. The organizers of the event have requested that last names be withheld. 

“I still feel kind of in a daze about winning,” said Karlsson. I wasn’t totally expecting to win. It was a shock.”

According to Nikki Burton, the president of the program, the day of the event was a busy one, beginning with the contestants arriving at noon for hair and makeup, provided by volunteers from local salons. Then the ladies dressed for their interviews with the judges.

The opening number included both the contestants and last year’s royalty. “This is a chance to see the contestants for the first time,” Burton said. “They come down the steps in front of the stage to music from the theme of our event: Dream a Little Dream.”

This was followed by the fitness element. “It should be noted that even though this was a group performance, the girls were judged individually based on their own ability,” said Burton. “Then the self-expression part of the program, where each contestant delivered a 90-second speech based on a prompt, and then the creative and performing arts show, known as talent.” 

The contestants also performed one of the routines from the royalty float parade in 2025. After this, the ladies donned their formal gowns and walked the stage for presence and composure. The contest concluded with interviews from the judges.

 With the contest behind them, the new Miss Deer Park royalty look forward to their work in the community.

“The winners of the Miss Deer Park Scholarship Program will now participate in many community service events over the course of the year,” explained Karen Martino, committee member and the scholarship program’s advisor for the year. “They will participate in between nine and 11 parades, will help out with Deer Park’s Music in the Park, help with the tree lighting ceremony, the GreenHouse (Food and Clothing Bank), turkey drive, WinterFest, and several other events. They will also deliver about 20 speeches at Kiwanis, Rotary, school board, and other clubs. The winners will also help next year’s contestants from January through March.”

All three winners are looking forward to helping out in the community. “I do want to help in the community and be a role model,” said Karlsson. “This gives me the motivation to put myself out there and helps me to find what I want to pursue after high school. I’m interested in translating and maybe becoming a cryptic language analyst.”

Longly said she is looking forward to immersing herself in her community and learning more about it. “I plan on going to chamber and city council meetings,” she explained. “I’m interested in politics and the Space Force, which is the newest branch of the U.S. military.”

Coe said she is excited to become a good role model within her community. “I especially want to encourage children to be the best they can be. I want to attend college and study psychology. What I really want is to help people. This scholarship is a good start and will be helpful to me.”

The three winners all said they believe they have come away from the competition as better people, having improved at certain aspects of their lives that had been challenges.

“The Miss Deer Park Scholarship Program has taught me how to be more graceful, and how to maintain eye contact,” said Karlsson. “Also, I’ve learned how to smile. A lot of times, people have told me that I have a resting face that isn’t friendly. Most important is that I’ve learned to be myself. For my talent, I performed a part of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet in French. Doing that represents who I am. I think that learning other languages can help you to learn and understand other cultures. I am getting close to being bilingual in French.”

“Even if I hadn’t won, I came out of this better,” said Longly. “I have improved confidence. The committee helps us to improve. This competition has made me into a better person. The official statement of our competition is ‘If you believe it, you can achieve it.’ I believe that.”

Coe agreed that there was so much to learn. “I have learned how to interview in a professional way. I have also improved at public speaking. And it was fun. I enjoyed myself so much.”