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By JOYANNA LOVE/Managing Editor

It was exciting to be a part of Peach Festival history on June 24 as Halle Sullivan was crowned the 2021 Miss Peach.

She is the first contestant to ever reign as Peach Queen in all four divisions — Little, Young, Junior and Miss.

Yet, for me, it was just as great to watch the reactions of all of the contestants as their names were called for the various scholarships.

Each year, the Clanton Lions Club works to provide scholarships for the Queen and first alternate in the Miss and Junior contests and cash prizes for the Queen and first alternate in the Little and Young categories.

Community partnerships create several other scholarships open exclusively to Miss Peach Contestants.

This year, that meant each contestant was only going against three other young women for thousands of dollars in scholarships.

A total of $8,700 in scholarships were awarded by the Clanton Lions Club and community partners at this year’s event. Every participant walked away with at least $1,200 in scholarships.

Laken Flowers did not win the title of Miss Peach but win the most scholarship money of the night by being selected for the Shelby Baptist Future Leadership Scholarship, St. Vincent’s Orthopedic Dr. Worthen Scholarship and the Blanchard Peach Scholarship.

And if the look on her face is any indication, she was ecstatic about it.

Sometimes it’s not about the title, as much as any of the contestants may have wanted it, they all walked away with an investment into their future.

Each of them was a winner in that they received a scholarship.