Almost every child has a dream she hopes to achieve in their lifetime, whether it be making the varsity basketball team in high school, becoming a world famous actress or learning how to scuba dive. 

Laura Nielsen, a sophomore at Fredericksburg High School, recently had her life long dream fulfilled. She was crowned Stonewall Peach Queen on June 19 with her court of duchesses, Aleitha Sierra, Misty Danz and Anahi Benitez. Before the results were announced, Nielsen was both nervous and excited.

 “I was excited since I have wanted to be Peach Queen since I was little. I was nervous, because I was afraid I would make a fool of myself in public interviews,” Nielsen said.

Nielsen was put up against fierce competition as she was the only sophomore and three seniors and one junior. There were a variety of events within the competition, one of which was the peach pit spitting contest.

“It is both a tradition and a part of the competition,” Nielsen said. “The judges don’t judge you on how far your pit goes. They judge you based on how you react to weird situations.” 

Nielsen spent a lot of time preparing for public and private interviews.

 “I had my mom ask me questions the judges might possibly ask me to prepare for public interviews,” Nielsen said. “For the private interview, they asked me questions about myself and for the public interview they asked questions about peaches and Stonewall.”

Not only was she preparing for rigorous questions, but she also had to do some fashionable shopping.

“I had to buy four separate outfits for all of the activities prior to the competition,” Nielsen said.

Nielsen and the peach duchesses now spend their time doing parades and promoting Stonewall’s peach industry and Gillespie County.

 “Ever since I was little I have watched the peach queens walk around in their crowns and pretty dresses and help out at an event,” Nielsen said. “Since I have lived in Stonewall my whole life, it was always a dream of mine to be a peach queen one day. I also love my Stonewall community and want to help it out as much as I can. Becoming Peach Queen allows me to help my community out and live my little kid dream.”