It is a time-honored tradition of Annandale: the highly-anticipated Mr. Annandale pageant on Feb. 13. However, this year, the competition was in jeopardy until the last day to turn in forms. Each year, up to 20 junior and senior boys compete for the sash and crown and the coveted title of Mr. Annandale. Up until Jan. 16, the day forms were due, only one person had turned in their forms.
The fate of the pageant was saved on the last day to turn in forms when 17 junior and senior boys turned in their forms late in the day.
“I had trouble thinking of what I wanted for my playlist, and was busy, so I didn’t have time to turn in my forms,” said junior Jose Rivera.
The Mr. Annandale pageant is an example of the problem of students not taking deadlines seriously and waiting to the last minute to turn in forms. In the days leading up to the deadline to turn in forms, leadership students had frantically been working to get people to sign up, and were worried the competition would have to be cancelled.
“It’s high school; no one turns in their forms early, so I’m not surprised no one turned in their forms earlier,” said junior Melissa Pratt.
The Mr. Annandale pageant consists of four categories: elegance, talent, muscle and spirit. For the elegance category, the contestant will walk out in their nicest formal wear with their female escort. In the talent category, each contestant must present a special talent to the audience. For the muscle category, each contestant will attempt to somehow prove that they are the manliest of all the competitors. For spirit, each contestant must provide a clever way of showing school spirit.
“I’m really excited because I get to show off my guns during the muscle category, but I’m most excited for the elegance part,” said junior Lewis Folli.
After all the contestants have competed in all four categories, the judges will consult with one another to crown Mr. Annandale. This year teachers Lindsay Zivney, Robin Griffin, John Hawes and more will make up the panel of esteemed judges. The judges will work together to crown Mr. Muscle, Mr. Talent, Mr. Elegance and Mr. Spirit; then, they will finally crown Mr. Annandale.
“Big things are going to happen [at the competition] and I’m really excited to see what people come up with,” said senior Nolan Gilbert.
The leadership students have put a lot of time and effort into getting ready for the Mr. Annandale competition.
“We have to get permission from the administration, reserve the auditorium, and make posters to advertise,” said junior Eric Mejean.
The Mr. Annandale competition is mainly a way to get students to show their school spirit in a lighthearted way, as well as a fundraiser for the school.
“I’m most excited to see how the students display their school spirit,” said leadership teacher Stephanie Harmony.
The juniors competing in Mr. Annandale are: James Barker, Lewis Folli, Zack Hussain, Jose Rivera, and Oscar Benitz. The Seniors competing are: Brody El-Achi, Nolan Gilbert, Hari Mizouri, Justice Garrish, Sherif Beshara, Andy Riddle, Luke Lundy, Joey Shiflett, Kelvin Fuentes, Bryan Jefferson, Andrew Boyd, Khalid Kamara, Rashad Cobb and Jae Min Kim. The Mr. Annandale competition will take place in the auditorium at 7 p.m.
