McALLEN — Young women in intricately-designed ballgowns, each celebrating a different type of local flora could only mean one thing — it was once again time for the annual royal coronation held every January as part of the Texas Citrus Fiesta celebrations.
With a limited number of guests and the use of mouth and nose coverings, the Texas Citrus Fiesta organization held their annual coronation event on Thursday.
It was one of the few Citrus Fiesta events to go on as scheduled following the postponement of the fun fair, carnival, the mayor’s international brunch, and the parade because of the persisting dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the coronation was still vastly different from years past. The Texas Citrus Fiesta is a staple of the city of Mission but the coronation was moved from their usual venue at Mission High School to the McAllen Performing Arts Center.
There were also fewer participants this years as several young women dropped out with only 16 duchesses remaining, down from the usual 20 to 30.
“It’s been such a long tradition so we kind of trusted them along the way and knowing they would do it the correct way,” said Abigail Bazan, the Duchess of Oleander, about still wanting to participate in the event.
“I feel like just keeping the tradition alive, but in a safe manner, is really why most of us did it and at the same time, we get to meet so many new girls,” said Brianna Villasano, the Duchess of Live Oak.
Unbeknownst to Villasano, at the time, she would continue being part of the tradition as she was named the 85th annual Queen Citrianna at the end of the night.
At next year’s coronation, Villasano will appear in her queen’s gown and will be crowned.
But this year, it was Kaylee Silva, the 84th annual Queen Citrianna, who wore the crown Thursday night after being announced the winner last year.
The Parade of Oranges, which typically takes place the Saturday after the coronation, is one of the first events for the newly crowned queen but it’s unclear when and how the parade will proceed.
But despite the postponement of key events, the road to the coronation was a difficult process for the girls.
“I remember we started orientation and then we had a cook-off and then we had a Driscoll toy drive and then we had the interviews,” Villasano said.
“We also had meetings in between just to discuss this and the situation and then we came to this,” she said. “And usually there would have been way more events that got canceled … but I’m just grateful that we had a few and we still got to pursue some of our traditions.”
Those traditions were especially significant for Lorelai Hill, Duchess of Grain Sorghum, and her family who work in the citrus industry.
Her mother used to serve as one of the judges, her little brother served as a page, and she herself was named Princess Anna, a role reserved for girls as young as 6 years old.
“I’ve done Princess Anna, my whole family has done all the pageants so I grew into it all along,” Hill said.
The Citrus Fiesta also runs deep in the history of the Flowers family whose own T.J. Flowers was crowned King Citrus this year.
“My whole family has been participating in this pageant and the events in the Citrus Fiesta for many, many years and so I’ve been able to be on the sidelines, cheering them on as they went through it,” said Flowers, 43. “As fortune would have it, they tapped me to be King Citrus this year and so I’m extremely proud to be at the forefront this year in 2021.”
Flowers, from Edinburg, said his father was the 67th Annual King Citrus while his sister was the 69th Annual Queen Citrianna. Additionally, his youngest daughter was named Princess of Red Grapefruit Blossom in 2016.
After graduating from Texas A&M University, Flowers started working in the produce business which he’s been doing for 18 years and, with his father, eventually launched Lone Star Citrus Growers, a company that grows and sells ruby red grapefruit and oranges.
“We’ve been doing Texas Citrus ever since then,” Flowers said.
With the events held by the Citrus Fiesta, Flowers said he hopes they shed a positive light on the citrus industry and noted that it’s a celebration of a long history.
“It’s not only part of my family’s roots but it’s actually part of the greater Rio Grande Valley’s roots and history,” Flowers said. “The Texas citrus industry’s been down here for many, many generations, 100 years.”
“Of course, grapefruit is the state fruit of Texas,” he added, “so it’s important not just to the local economy but also the state.”
