MARYSVILLE – Fairy tales came true for several young women who were graced with tiaras, sashes – and college scholarships – during the April Friesner Memorial Royalty Scholarship Pageant in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School auditorium Feb. 25.

For royalty candidates at the pageant hosted by the Marysville Strawberry Festival, the event is the highlight following several public appearances the candidates make before groups, including the City Council, school board and local service clubs, where their public speaking skills are put on display.

Sarah Turral, a junior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, was crowned queen of the Senior Royalty, receiving a $5,000 scholarship.

Turral said she was surprised when she was named queen.

“I’m super happy, and I’m excited….and tired,” she said. “Lots of smiling. My cheeks are definitely hurting.”

She said she’s ready for all the hard work ahead, “and all the fun. It’s definitely exciting!”

Denise Jacobsen and Harmon Uppal, seniors at Marysville Getchell High School, are the princesses and recipients of a $3,500 scholarship each. Turall also earned the $500 Bob Klepper Congeniality Award.

The Junior Royalty includes Rozlynn Edwards, a seventh-grader at Totem Middle School, and Elizabeth Turral and Jimena Yanez, both eighth-graders at 10th Street Middle School.

Members of the court accompany the parade float and serve as ambassadors representing Marysville at a succession of parades and festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest for much of the year. They also make guest appearances at local events, activities, retirement homes and other venues.

At the pageant, candidates are rated on talent, brief speeches and response to an impromptu question.

Turral, a 4.0 student who plays in the M-P concert and jazz band, performed a Miles Davis jazz solo on tenor sax. Jacobsen went a more whimsical direction, strumming her ukulele and singing “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”

A Tai Kwon Do demonstration by Uppal, and a piano and singing rendition of “Say Something” indie band A Great Big World performed by royalty candidate Summer Frisby added magic to the talent section.

The senior candidates were asked to recall something they did that they never thought they had the courage to do. Their answers spoke to breaking out of their comfort zone and building confidence.

Turral started taking advanced placement courses, and excelling despite the more intense levels of study required. Jacobsen said entering Running Start at Everett Community College was a big step, but she felt she had grown enough as a person to do it. Uppal ran to be president of the National Honor Society and succeeded. Frisby said she was painfully shy, but co-preaching through her church, and the pageant, gave her the courage to speak in front of others publicly.

If Turral wants advice on what’s ahead, she doesn’t have to look farther than her own home. Her mother is a past royalty member, and Sarah wore the same pageant dress on the very same high school stage. They might want to keep the gown handy, as younger sister Elizabeth was named to the junior royalty this year.