LOXLEY, Ala. — Sometime late afternoon on March 7, a new queen will be crowned in Loxley.

Out of all the second grade girls attending a Baldwin County public or private school, she will have the poise, appearance, and personality to rule over the 22nd annual Baldwin County Strawberry Festival as “Little Miss Strawberry.” The festival will be held April 11 and 12 at Loxley Municipal Park.

She won’t be alone. A first runner-up and five finalists will also be selected. Those young ladies will serve as the queen’s court. They will be formally presented to the public at the Strawberry Festival April 11. The festival benefits Loxley Elementary School and the Association for Retarded Citizens of Baldwin County.

“The pageant is the kickoff event for the Festival, said DeAnn Ramey, principal of Loxley Elementary,

Information and entry packets went out to second grade girls through their schools, said Amy H. Smith, a speech pathologist at Loxley Elementary School. However, if an entry packet went astray, parents and guardians can go to the Festival Web site, baldwincountystrawberryfestival.org to download an entry application. All entries must be postmarked by March 1. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $25 which must be in the form of a money order or cashier’s check.

“All the girls get participation ribbons and a t-shirt,” said Smith.

According to pageant organizers, Little Miss Strawberry will receive a $100 savings bond, a tiara, sash, trophy, and flowers. The first runner up will receive a $50 bond, a sash and flowers. The finalists will receive a trophy and flowers.

Of course, there will be plenty of memories. LMS and her court will appear at a number of Baldwin County events, such as Loxley’s Christmas parade.

That parade just about did in the current LMS, Caroline Young.

“I think she’s quite done parading,” chucked her mother, Michelle Young in a phone interview.

“It was pretty cold, and you had to smile the whole time,” admitted Caroline Young, who lives in Fairhope. She was 8 years old and a student at Bayside Academy when she earned the crown.

While that event might have been chilly, the year as Little Miss Strawberry has taught her daughter some things Michelle Young says.

“She has become aware of what she is responsible for,” said Young, who added this was the only pageant her daughter has ever been in.

For Laventia Peterson. first runner-up in 1992, now a physical therapy student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, all the memories are good. She was a second-grade student at Daphne Elementary School when she earned her title.

“I remember being asked, ‘Why was Ariel my favorite character in The Little Mermaid,’” wrote Peterson in an e-mail.

The memories will stay with her for a lifetime.

“I remember the Strawberry Festival Parade and the excitement of riding the float and being introduced to the audience,” said Peterson.

In fact, Peterson, who says she “loves the spotlight,” went on to enter several other pageants and scholarship competitions, several of which she says she won.

While a pageant may have a lot of stress, and yes, there can be only one winner, Ramey says the teachers behind the scenes know how to deal with the emotions that come to the surface.

“It’s something we deal with every day,” she said.