Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Micaela Geborkoff was crowned Strawberry Queen at the Copper Country Strawberry Festival Friday night by her mother, Sarah Geborkoff.

CHASSELL — Micaela Geborkoff was crowned Strawberry Queen before a packed crowd at the Copper Country Strawberry Festival Friday night.

Grateful and happy for the crown Geborkoff said it wasn’t something she’d expected.

“Some of my friends did it last year, but I wasn’t able to because I was out of town, so I decided to do it this year instead,” she said. “And that’s honestly given me the opportunity to know a lot of other people more. It’s been a really great experience. Everyone is super-awesome, and they deserve to win just as much as I did.”

Breigh Lawrence was named first runner-up, while Alethea Oakley was named Miss Congeniality.

Geborkoff had already gotten to experience her favorite part of the festival before Friday’s coronation — eating the strawberry shortcake.”

She also thanked pageant organizer Lara Neves and 2021 Queen Madison Mattila for giving the candidates advice on everything from pageant walk to being able to project their voices.

Most of the score — 60% — came from in-person interviews conducted by judges earlier in the week, where contestants were graded on their ability to be positive, goal-oriented, well-spoken friendly, and self-confident.

Another 20% came from presentation and stage presence. The remaining 20% came from two questions answered onstage: a common one — “What is the biggest challenge facing young people today?” — and one unique to each candidate.

Geborkoff said the biggest challenge is societal pressure — both in terms of social media pressuring people to do certain things or behave in a certain way, and the pressure to have more accomplishments to get into increasingly competitive universities.

Geborkoff was also asked how to keep a positive attitude in a negative situation.

“When I’m going through a hard time, I always surround myself with positive people,” including her family and friends, she said.

Prior to Friday’s Queen ceremony, the Lions Club announced Shelby Turnquist as Citizen of the Year and Ally Etelamaki as Youth Citizen of the Year.

At the start of the night, children in all kinds of berry-themed get-ups circled the pavilion in the Children’s Parade.

Best in show went to Amanda Deyaert and her daughters Kinsley and Delaney Deyaert. Amanda, whose parents own the Crane Berry Farm, helped plant flowers on the field to attract pollinators. Her daughters were dressed as bees. She wore a beekeeper outfit and carried a sign reading “Strawberry Season is No Vacation When You’re In Charge of Pollination.”

As you’d expect, the Strawberry Festival is a huge tradition in her family.

“I’ve been a part of it since I can remember,” she said. “It’s just a big, big part of our family. We have family members that come up for it.”