By: HEATHER BOGARD
Associate Editor
While outgoing Louisiana Tournoi Queen Ainsley Quibodeaux has held several youth titles, including Junior Miss Boudin Festival Queen and Junior Miss Smoked Meat Festival Queen, she declares, “This one will always have a special place in my heart considering it is my first Miss title.” She continues, “Besides meeting new people, I’ve learned that all festival queens, including myself, don’t just look at the crown for its beauty, we look past that. We look at the history and all of the people behind it.”
Quibodeaux, the 18-year-old daughter of Josh and Sierra Cormier of Cankton, and granddaughter of Ricky and Annette Quibodeaux, will crown her successor during the Tournoi Pageant to be held Saturday evening, August 27, at the Northside Civic Center. She is a 2022 graduate of Beau Chene High School. She is currently attending the Opelousas School of Cosmetology. Once she completes her studies and obtains her cosmetology license, she plans to open her own hair salon. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, meeting new people, camping, fishing and competing in pageants.
Quibodeaux recalls a special memory of her reign, sharing, “As a queen all little girls look up to you. There was one little girl in particular that makes my heart melt thinking about her. She saw me at the Cotton Festival on the Friday night and loved my crown, so we danced and I let her try on the crown and take pictures. Sunday came around and it was time for the parade. I will never forget the look on her face when she saw me riding. It is an honor to be a festival queen and be allowed to see how many people actually look up to you.
“One of my favorite events that I attended,” the outgoing queen shares, “was the Harvest Festival in New Roads, Louisiana. I traveled with the best rhinestone sisters a queen could ever ask for, Shelbi (Rials) and Halle (Bertrand). We played games, ate lunch, and got to look at the beautiful river while doing so.”
Quibodeaux admits, “During my reign, I’ve gained a sense of leadership to help show the younger generation how to take pride in their title and appreciate all the special moments with your fellow queens and community.”
Amid the ongoing Covid pandemic, Quibodeaux allows, “I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones that wasn’t affected by Covid. ‘Lucky’ would be an understatement in this situation. Some girls that were crowned in 2020 got to keep their title for two years. If a festival queen would love it as much as most of us do, this would be an honor.”
As always, it takes village to manage a successful title reign, and Quibodeaux has many people to thank for making year a memorable and fun one. She says, “First I would like to thank the wonderful board and director for allowing me and giving me the opportunity to take on the journey of traveling as 2021 queen. I would like to thank my mom and dad for supporting me financially and mentally throughout the year. I couldn’t have done it without them. My granny was always being there when I needed her the most, especially when I traveled far and she blew up my phone until I got home.”
To her sister Tournoi queens and rhinestone sisters, Quibodeaux says, “I would like to thank Bailey (Marcantel) for showing all the girls how to be an awesome queen. She will do great things in life I just know it. I would like to thank Mrs. Crystal (Thrasher) for all the laughs and traveling memories. I will definitely miss clowning around with her. I would like to thank Chloe (Childers). She has grown so much over the year and I loved watching every minute of it. In the beginning she was a little shy, but I knew it wouldn’t take long for her to get used to the queen life. I loved every minute traveling with her, and wish I could do it forever. She will always be my little junior queen at heart! I wish her the best of luck in her future I know she will accomplish great things. To all of my rhinestone sisters, thank y’all for all of the memories that we made this past year.
One more special thanks Quibodeaux shares is to “‘Mylane’ (Dalayne Fuselier). I don’t even know where to start. In 2010 she called my mom and asked if I wanted to be in the Cracklin Festival pageant. With the pageant being the next day, my mom and I ran around frantically looking for a dress. The next day comes and I am crowned as the 2010 Deb Miss Cracklin Festival Queen. So I have finally figured out who started all this. When she was recently crowned, I knew that our traveling journey and lifelong memories had just begun. I would like to thank her for always being there for my countless number of questions. Being that this is my first Miss title, I was clueless but eager to learn, and she helped me every step of the way. I love her so much!
“To be a good festival queen,” Quibodeaux encourages her successor, “You have to take pride in your title. Go to as many places as possible to represent it because remember, you only have the crown for a year and it flies by.” She adds, “To my successor, take this title and run with it. The year flies by so enjoy it while you can. Make as many memories as possible, travel with your sister queens and most of all enjoy your laughs with the riders. They are hilarious and you will love them.”
(See stories on outgoing Ms. and Teen Tournoi queens on Page 12.)
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