Five Urbanna Oyster Festival duos still vying for scholarship money
The Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat competition is a long-standing tradition that dates to 1960. What would become the Urbanna Oyster Festival was only four years old when the first Oyster Festival Queen and Little Miss Spat were crowned on a flatbed trailer on the day of the festival.
As the Oyster Festival has evolved over the years, so has the selection of the Queen and Little Miss Spat (a spat is a baby oyster). What was once a beauty pageant is now a scholarship-based competition. The Queen contestants must be high school seniors and residents of Middlesex County. Each Queen contestant mentors a first-grade co-contestant as her Little Miss Spat.
The Queen and Little Miss Spat competition starts early in the spring, continues through the summer and extends until the crowning takes place on Friday of the festival.
The Queen contestants are judged in five areas:
- Individual community service project.
- Individual judges’ interview.
- Academic achievement.
- A spontaneously written response to a random question.
- Overall participation in the competition.
The Little Miss Spat contestants are judged separately from the Queen contestants in the following areas:
- Participation at an ice cream social and a tea party.
- Individual judges interviews.
- Overall participation.
The Queen and Little Miss Spat contestants for 2020 include, in alphabetical order, Jenna Kaye Ancell and Lydia Gourley, Airiana Beverley and Aubriana Sydnor-Burse, Katie Brooke and Shannon Wilson, Madeline Hurd and Madison Cole, and Sara Murray and Caroline Ward.
Following this introduction is the first of five Queen and Little Miss Spat contestant duo profiles being featured in the Sentinel. In coming issues, the four additional Queen and Little Miss Spat contestant duo profiles will be presented in the Sentinel.
The show must go on
This year’s contestants faced new challenges in completing their community service projects with social distancing rules in place. Although the 2020 Urbanna Oyster Festival has been canceled for this year due to COVID-19, organizers say the show must go on.
“Our goal this year is to make sure the contestants receive the acknowledgment and recognition they deserve,” said Joe Heyman, Oyster Festival Foundation Board chairman. “We are doing our best to give them a great experience, fund the college scholarships, as well as, host an event that will showcase each unique contestant and her amazing community service project.”
The story of each contestant’s journey through-out the competition will be documented through video and by posting the crowning and awards ceremony online Saturday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m.
To become a sponsor, call 804-695-4709 or 804-758-0368. For information, visit 2020urbannaoysterfestival.com.
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Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen Contestant Airiana Beverley and Little Miss Spat Contestant Aubriana Sydnor-Burse worked together to raise funds for the Middlesex County Parks and Recreation Department to be able to lower the registration fees for sports, especially basketball. Their project was titled “Ballin’ for MPR.”
Airiana chose to raise money for Middlesex Parks and Recreation because she had grown up playing multiple different sports through this organization. Her love for sports first sprouted through Middlesex Parks and Recreation. She was able to learn the importance of competition and sportsmanship while playing through this organization. Airiana had also noticed that there has been a decline in the participation levels in the different sports Middlesex Parks and Recreation had to offer. She believes that by raising money to lower the registration fees, the participation levels will increase.
For their project, Aubri and Airiana offered many different events to raise funds. They first set up donation jars at five local businesses. The first event they conducted was a spaghetti dinner. Airiana said, “ The spaghetti dinners were a huge success and I was blown away by the turnout we had.” They also conducted two bake sales that included many different homemade goods. At the end of their project, Aubri and Airiana were able to present Middlesex Parks and Recreation a check for $3,344.
During her years at Middlesex High School, Airiana has been involved in many different activities. She was a member of Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). She was the secretary of her class and a member of Spanish Honor Society her junior year. She was also inducted into the National Honor Society where she now is treasurer. Airiana has been able to maintain a 4.0 or above GPA since her freshman year. She is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). She has also had perfect attendance since her sixth grade year.
Airiana has been on the varsity volleyball team since her freshman year and was a team captain her junior year. She received honors such as first team all district, first team all region, and second team all state and was a part of the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 team that went to the state tournament. She has been on the varsity basketball team since her freshman year and has been a team captain since her sophomore year. She received second team all district and first team all district for basketball. She also played on the varsity softball team her sophomore year. She received second all district for softball. She was also on the track team her junior year.
After high school, Airiana plans to attend a four-year university to major in Nursing.
Airiana is the daughter of Diane Beverley and Sam Ware, the granddaughter of the late Howard and Clarice Beverley, and granddaughter of Gerald and the late Joann Ware. She has an older sister, Kashae Beverley. She also has a niece, Skylar Beverley.
Airiana’s spat, Aubriana Sydnor-Burse, is a first grade student at Middlesex Elementary School. She is the daughter of Jasmine Sydnor and George Burse Jr. She is the granddaughter of Andrea Hart and James Sydnor, Cynthia Burse and George Burse. Aubri enjoys building with her Legos and doing gymnastics. When she grows up, she wants to be a hairdresser.
