MISSION — The Texas Citrus Fiesta kicked off its diamond year with the Royal Coronation on Thursday at the Mission Event Center as the historic event celebrates its 90th anniversary.
The Royal Coronation, which began in 1932, is a showcase of pageantry where over 20 young women compete to be crowned Queen Citrianna. Participants ride on a float during the Texas Citrus Fiesta parade in honor of the City of Mission’s favorite type of crop, citrus.
“What Texas Citrus Fiesta does is we promote and educate people about our citrus industry,” Texas Citrus Fiesta Executive Director Lisa Rivera said. “A lot of people think it’s a dying industry but they’re actually spread out so much that you wouldn’t know how much citrus we have in the valley.
“We have a lot of citrus growers and industries in the area, especially in Mission. That’s why we’re called Mission: City of Grapefruit.”
At the entrance of the Mission Event Center, the gowns worn by former queens and duchesses were on full display.
Much like the duchess’ representing a product, the dresses are meticulously designed to represent the titular crops. A ruby red gown, for example, represents the inside of a grapefruit or, in the case of Duchess Anaili Garcia’s dress, the palm tree leaf-like designs on her gown represent her product, Royal Palms.
Garcia, who is from Palmview, decided to enter her hometown’s annual pageant before she turned 20. The age limit for these pageants is 19, and even though her mind wasn’t set on winning, Garcia was chosen as Duchess of Royal Palms.
One part of being a duchess means learning the history behind the product they’re representing, which Garcia demonstrated.
“Royal palm trees provide shade for the orange trees,” Garcia said. “Not only that, but their leaves provide a lot of nutrients for the soil so they’re really beneficial. Along with that, they’re self-cleaning trees.
“Also, I feel like I can really connect to a royal palm because I feel that it represents strength and resilience, so it doesn’t matter if there’s a storm or a hurricane, those 70-foot-long trees stay up high.”
Garcia likened the tree to a state of mind: one must keep their head high and persevere, much like the royal palm.
Though the coronation event might seem like the place where the judges make their final decision on who becomes Queen Citrianna, it is actually the interview held days prior between judges and duchesses where most of the points can be earned, which is where the studying comes into play.
Former Queen Citrianna, Alexandria Victoria Canchola, who won the title in 2019 and is in her second year as a board member of Texas Citrus Fiesta, was backstage on Thursday.
Canchola was in charge of making sure the page boys, 6- and 7-year-olds who accompany the duchesses and carry a sign with their representative’s symbol, were lined up and ready to walk out on stage.
“I’m looking at a lot of the girls and I can see that a lot of them are nervous,” Canchola said. “I’m happy that I’m not in their position, but I understand the pressure and stress that it takes to have this.”
And with much of the nerves shed during Tuesday’s event, the duchesses showcased their poise as they made their claim to the title Thursday night. But it was Duchess of White Wing Cassie J. Garcia who was ultimately named Queen Citrianna on Thursday.
View Monitor photojournalist Delcia Lopez’s full photo gallery of Thursday’s event here:
