More FITS contestants welcome

The race is on to see who will be this year’s Fun in the Sun royalty—and for the first time since 1999, the guys have stepped up to vie for the king’s crown.
“We have 11 girls and five guys,” said Sherri Puddicombe, who is organizing the annual pageant for a second year along with Rachel Thiessen.
“It was the students’ idea to bring back the guys. It should be pretty exciting—neither Rachel nor I have done this with them before,” she added.
The five FITS King contestants are Jamie Algie, Tyson Dennis, Lorne Koski, Jamie Pryde, and Ryan Whalen.
Meanwhile, the 11 girls vying for FITS Queen include Heather Algie, Sarah Angus, Shanna Calder, Kayla Caul, Sara Fitzgerald, Melanie Hyatt, Alison McIvor, Tanis McTavish, Sarah Noonan, Hope Wilson, and Jessica Wilson.
But while the pageant already boasts an ample number of contestants, Puddicombe said more are always welcome.
“Just contact me as soon as possible [274-6617],” she noted. “The more, the merrier.”
Puddicombe noted scheduling will be one major change to the competition this year. “We learned a lot from last year and we’ve improved a lot this year,” she remarked.
“Last year, they had to do a lot in a small amount of time and the girls were pretty tired by the end, and maybe didn’t enjoy it as much because of that,” admitted Puddicombe.
“We’re trying to spread things out more so that doesn’t happen.”
But she added that doesn’t mean the contestants won’t be busy over the coming weeks as they’ll be selling buttons, holding a fundraiser car wash at the end of this month, staging a flea market and kids’ carnival, and volunteering at the La Verendrye Hospital auxiliary’s Strawberry Social and public library’s Teddy Bear Picnic next month.
As in previous years, entertainment night also will be part of the pageant (scheduled for Sunday, June 23). The king and queen will be crowned July 1.
The reigning FITS Queen is April Matheson, with Sarah Hebert being First Princess and Lindsay Cawston the Second Princess. Jade Whitefield was named Miss Congeniality.
Joanna McQuarrie and Ashley Sisco rounded out last year’s competition.