Pass the crown: Deavers ready for fifth year as a Peach Queen
Published 10:51 am Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Lexie Deavers was crowned the new Miss Peach Queen in Chilton County on June 27. (MARY BOARDHEAD PHOTOGRAPHY | CONTRIBUTED)
Lexie Deavers became just the second girl in Peach Queen Pageant history to win all four titles throughout her time participating. (HOLLY DEAVERS | CONTRIBUTED)
The reaction of Lexie Deavers after hearing her name read as the new Miss Peach Queen. (MARY BOARDHEAD PHOTOGRAPHY | CONTRIBUTED)
Lexie Deavers in her casual wear during the Miss Peach Pageant. (MARY BOARDHEAD PHOTOGRAPHY | CONTRIBUTED)
Lexie Deavers in front of the donations to her from various businesses. (MARY BOARDHEAD PHOTOGRAPHY | CONTRIBUTED)
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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor
Alexa Grace Deavers made Peach Queen Pageant history this year as only the second girl to hold all four titles, and the first to serve for five years. Better known as Lexie, the Thorsby High School rising junior completed her quartet of crowns by assuming the Miss Peach Queen crown on June 27. Deavers joins Halle Sullivan as the other Peach Queen to hold all four titles throughout her years participating.
Deavers’ reign comes after a 12-year process of preparations for the very moment the Miss Peach crown touched her head, and it fulfilled a long-life dream of hers.
“I am so honored, and this has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl,” Deavers said. “Going into this I just wanted to know I was prepared, not only for the pageant, but for the opportunity to be Miss Peach.”
Deavers will also make history during her reign as the only Peach Queen in the history of the pageants to serve for five years. After winning the Young Miss Peach crown in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Chilton County Peach Festival in 2020. The Clanton Lions Club requested that the 2019 queens serve two years, thus landing Deavers in her fifth stint as a queen this upcoming year.
Deavers has been doing the Peach Queen Pageants every year since she was five years old, and she has had great success in them as well. She competed in the Little Miss Peach Pageant three time from 2013-2015, placing fourth alternate in 2013 and first alternate in 2014 before winning the crown in 2015. She did the Young Miss Peach Pageant three times as well from 2017-2019, placing as the first alternate the first two years, and winning the crown in 2019 and eventually 2020 as well. She has won the crown in her one and only Junior Miss Peach and Miss Peach Pageants she has participated in.
Deavers said her interview during this year’s pageant was the best one she has ever had, and she told the judges that time management and preparation are some of the biggest qualities that she would bring to her potential role as queen. She was overcome with emotion following her interview because it was a relief with it being over after all the preparations.
However, the tensions rose again as the alternates were read aloud, and they grew each time Deavers’ name was not said.
“I was shocked to hear my name, because you never really know until the crown is on your head,” Deavers said. “When they called my name all of the nerves left, and it was just excitement and relief because you work so hard for something and want it so badly. I was so proud of myself for achieving something I worked so hard for.”
Deavers prides herself to be the best she can be at whatever she does, and it showed in the extensive preparations she did for this year’s pageant. She worked with pageant interview coaches online on a weekly basis, read books and facts on Chilton County, its farmers and peach industry, and would fall asleep with her notes in her hand. Long months of work leading to the momentous moment on June 27.
“She cried when she won, she cried when she saw the new queens and she cried when she saw all the generous donations,” Holly Deavers, Lexie’s mother and a former Peach Queen herself, said. “It was a night to remember for her always. She is so honored to represent the Lions Club, peach farmers and Chilton County community.”
While a lot of work went into the 12 years of preparations, Deavers said she has thoroughly enjoyed it, and it has shaped the person she is today while also helping her with life skills along the way. She was once a very shy girl, and she battled with bouts of anxiety in the past. However, as she did the Peach Queen Pageants over the years, they have helped her branch out and become more confident in herself.
Deavers is very excited to get to know her other three Peach Queen sisters and grow close with them. Also, the opportunity to just represent and serve the Chilton County community in such a large capacity excites her for the year ahead.
“The little stuff like when you do not have all your makeup on, and you are just there working in a yard,” Deavers said. “That stuff is important to me because I know I am doing something good to give back to the community that has given so much to me.”
With many pageants under her belt, Deavers has gotten the opportunity to get to know several of the Miss Peach queens over the years. The biggest piece of advice they gave her is to always be kind, and be easily approachable to younger girls.
Deavers said it is important to be a positive role model to younger girls in the Chilton County community. She remembers how fondly she thought about the Miss Peach queens over the years, so it is important for her to make sure young girls feel the same way about her this next year. The little eyes on her at all times helps Deavers hold herself to a high standard at all times, and be the best person she can be for herself, her family and those younger girls.
Deavers keeps busy outside of the Peach Queen Pageants with many extracurricular activities including varsity cheerleading, being the class president from 7th-10th grades and being a homecoming representative at Thorsby. She is also a member of the Thorsby First Baptist Church youth group, a Yale University Business Innovation recipient and a National Scholastic member. Deavers has also established Gift of HOPE in Chilton County that provides diaper bags and luggage donations to foster children in the area.
Deavers prides herself as an overall ambassador for the Peach Queen Pageants in Chilton County, and believes they will help any young girl break out and find themselves.
“If anyone is ever thinking about entering their child into the Peach Queen Pageants, I think it is so important to do that,” Deavers said. “It has made me the person I am today, and it has helped me overcome so many things in my life. It is truly amazing to get your child out of their shell, and it will help them so much in all walks of life.”
