Holding Court: New Valley of Flowers Queen Crowned

A cloudy, rainy day couldn’t wipe away the smile away from the 2013 Valley of Flowers queen Sunday afternoon.

Florissant Mayor Tom Schneider crowned Kelly Mahaffy the queen for 2013-2014 as well as announced her court. The Duchesne High School junior, who was sponsored by Citizens National Bank, competed against 14 other Florissant ladies for the honor.

“It’s absolutely a thrill,” she said following the ceremony. “There was a lot of wonderful speeches, and everyone did a wonderful job.”

Joining her on the court are four other ladies, including:

• Elly Freesmeier, First Runner-Up, Incarate Word Academy
• Kameryn Bellinger, Special Maid, Incarnate Word Academy
• Alex Holzum, Special Maid, Rosati-Kain High School
• Brittany Spiva, Special Maid, McCluer North High School

Prior to Mahaffy’s crowning, the outgoing 2012-2013 court spoke to the crowd briefly. Outgoing Queen Monica Wilson said that she would be studying nursing and Spanish at the Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville in the fall, and that the past year was a wonderful time in her life.

“This year will definitely be a great memory for me, and I made four best friends,” she said.

The new queen said that she not only looks forward to representing the City of Florissant throughout the next year but getting to know many of the girls on court, many of whom attended grade school with her.