By By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC – The 20th annual Blossomtime Bud Princess is Sarah Green of St. Joseph.
Bud Prince is Jacob Taylor of Stevensville. They were crowned by 2007 winners Kimber Gano of Stevensville and Robert Fellows of Coloma.
The 2 1/2-hour "Buds Cruise the World" pageant Sunday afternoon at Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center crowned Sarah, 7, and Jacob, 8, from 31 – 23 girls and eight boys.
Sarah, contestant 16, is the daughter of Eric and Theresa Green. She has brown hair and hazel eyes and attends first grade at E.P. Clark Elementary.
She answered her finalist question of what kind of fruit she'd like to be with her favorite, pineapple.
Jacob, contestant 29, is the son of Jeff and Shelley Taylor. He was first runner-up in the 2007 contest in February. Jacob has blue eyes and sandy blond hair and attends Roosevelt Elementary School..
He answered his finalist question of what super power he'd like to have as invisibility, since nobody could tell if he was being good or bad.
Princess first runner-up Theresa "Rosie" Wuerfel, 8, of St. Joseph, also won first runner-up in the 2007 contest in February. Contestant 21 attends E.P. Clark Elementary and is the daughter of Ken and Julie Wuerfel.
Second runner-up Kelcie Myers, 8, of Edwardsburg, also finished as second runner-up in February. She is the daughter of Chad and Diana Myers and attends Eagle Lake Elementary.
Prince first runner-up Bryce Robinson, 8, of St. Joseph, is the son of Eric and DeEtte Robinson. He has red hair and hazel eyes and attends Brown Elementary School. Contestant 30 is the waterboy for the St. Joseph Bears and plays rocket football and wrestles. He was a finalist in February.
Second runner-up Joshua Weber, 6, of Stevensville, is the son of Troy and Lauri Weber. He has blond hair and blue eyes and attends Roosevelt Elementary School.If Joshua had $1 million, contestant 26 would buy a mansion and a convertible.
Also making the final five were Meredith Ellis, 8, of Stevensville, who was a finalist in February, Courtney Leach, 7, of Edwardsburg, Jacob Shafer, 9, of Benton Harbor, and Ke'Shaun Dyson, 7, of Benton Harbor.
Buds Chair Carol Martin singled out Baylee Bonds of Buchanan, Susie Paine of St. Joseph, Meredith Ellis of Stevensville, Taylor Zehner of Watervliet, Christopher Statler of Sodus and Ke'Shaun Dyson of Benton Harbor for teddy bear committee awards.
For the second year, David Mayne of Stevensville, regional corporate communications manager of Indiana Michigan Power, served as master of ceremonies. He said the Buds are a "step up" from his usual gig behind a microphone – horse shows.
Contestants introduced themselves by saying where in the world they'd like to cruise to, with Hawaii (four), Jamaica (two), Florida (two), Paris (two), France (two), the Bahamas (two) and Mexico (two) the leading destinations.
Also meriting mention were London, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Alaska, Rome, China, Brazil, Australia, the Gulf of Mexico, Egypt and Cancun, which is where second annual Miss Teen Blossomtime Alexandria Hemphill, 14, of Buchanan will be spending Christmas.
Alexandria was reunited with her court crowned Nov. 11 at the PAC – Miss Congeniality Autumn Legatt of Niles, First Runner-up Jasmine Moore-Kyle of Benton Harbor and Second Runner-up Clarissa Vasquez of Lawrence. Jasmine, Clarissa and Alexandria served as the judges' pages, while Autumn was the runner.
Also competing were Sydney Kujawski of Niles, Allie Kirksey of St. Joseph, Jaina Adams of St. Joseph, Marissa Lundy of Niles, Madelynne Keller of Three Oaks, Taylor Brink of St. Joseph, Brittany Kuemin of Niles, Elizabeth Jorgensen of Eau Claire, Jora Barnes of Niles, Bailey Davis of St. Joseph, Shaelyn Bundy of Dowagiac, Julia Sternaman of Benton Harbor, Taylor Shafer of Benton Harbor, Kira Ford of Kalamazoo, Robert's sister, Sara Fellows of Coloma, Nicholas Wade of Stevensville and Alex Kremer of St. Joseph.