Melon Days Pageant

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The Green River Melon Days Queen Pageant “American Dream 2002” was held Sept. 20 at Green River High School. Ren Hatt was the emcee for the evening and introduced the contestants and the girls performed their introduction. During this introduction, the contestants were escorted by their local heros. These escorts included, Warren Nelson, Mike Silliman, Mitch Vetere, Eugene Swalberg, Ben Lehnhoff, Scott Robert, and Melvin Ray. Hatt then introduced the judges for the pageant, Randy Johnson from Castle Dale, Natalie Blackwell, Ferron, Ron and Lorilyn Vogel, Price and Cindy Brewer from Moab.
The father-son team of Ren and Royd Hatt performed a Robot Dance followed by the contestants and their own talent numbers. “Peanuts and the Rootbeer Chuggin’ Monkeys” performed for the crowd while the contestants prepared for the evening gown competition. After the contestants answered the questions presented by the emcee, the “Soggy Bottom Boys” entertained the audience.
Miss Emery County, JaNell Jones, played a piano solo “The Tarantella.” Announcing the 2002 Melon Days Queen, were 2001 co-queens, Amber Watterson and Rachel Wilske. Tawni Bigelow was named Miss Melon Days, Rebekah Silliman was 1st attendant, Christy Bowerman was 2nd attendant, and Savannah Black was named Miss Congeniality.
Contestants in the Melon Days Queen Pageant were:
Charli McCune
Charla McCune is known to us here in Green River as “Charli.” She is the sister of Lucas and VicToria Shorts.
Charli moved here last Nov. from Grand Junction, Colo.
Charli is a 16 year-old junior at Green River High School. She is also a Green River high school cheerleader.
Charli loves to sing and dance, and participate in other activities.
Mandy Watterson
Mandy Watterson is the daughter of Jay and DeeDee Watterson. She has two brothers and three sisters. She is 15 years old and is a sophomore at Green River High.
She enjoys many activities such as reading romantic novels, cooking and home decorating.
She enjoys doing service for people and has spent many hours participating in service projects.
She has played soccer, volleyball, basketball, and been on the track team. She is currently playing on the high school volleyball team.
Savannah Black
Savannah is the daughter of Jeff and Conae Black. She is the youngest of the siblings. She has three brothers and one sister. She has attended all of her schooling in Green River. She is now in the tenth grade and is an excellent student. She sets a goal every year to be the best she can be in all her studies at school. Education is important to her.
She has played the flute since the 5th grade and enjoys doing that. She has participated in the high school chorus and the high school musicals and enjoys that also. She has been a cheerleader at Green River High School for both her freshman and sophomore years and is the J.V. Head Cheerleader this year. Last year at school she was a peer helper.
She has a love for animals and ever since she was very small has claimed that she is going to be a veterinarian when she grows up and still sticks by that claim. She loves boys, getting new clothes, dancing, sleeping, being with her friends, music and going to the movies with her family.
Christy Bowerman
Christy Gene Bowerman is the daughter of Von and Cindy Bowerman. She is the youngest of four children, Von II, Katina, and Pamila. She is also the aunt of Tyler and Kole. She was born in Moab on Halloween day in 1986. She later moved to Tonapa, Nev. for two years and moved back to Green River and has been here ever since.
Some of her accomplishments include, being class president for two years, being on the high honor roll, freshman homecoming attendant, JV head cheerleader and Varsity co-captain.
Her hobbies include cheerleading, dancing, playing her flute, reading, and listening to music. Her future goals are to go to college, pursue a career in accounting, get married and have a family.
Rebekah Silliman
Rebekah Silliman is the daughter of Michael and Phyllis Silliman. She was born July 2, 1986. She is 16 years old and is a junior at Green River High School. She is the eldest of her two sisters and brother. She is head cheerleader and class secretary. She has participated in volleyball and basketball. She plans on going to a junior college and getting her bachelor degree then transferring to a university and majoring in English, math, history and interior design. She plans on becoming an architect.
Tawni Lane Bigelow
Tawni is the oldest daughter of Kerry and Tonya Bigelow. She has one sister and two brothers. She is 17 years, 11 months, and 20 days old. Tawni is a 4.0 student, which has been a goal of hers since she entered the 7th grade.
Tawni is a senior at GRHS achieved a composite score of 30 on the ACT test. She is an avid reader and enjoys many styles of literature. Tawni participates in many extracurricular activities. She is a member and captain of both the volleyball and basketball teams. She is playing the part of Cinderella in “Into the Woods,” the school musical.
She has participated at both the region and state level of the Solo and Ensemble Competition. She is active in church and community. She planned, organized, and carried out the first blood drive in Green River for many years.
Both of Tawni’s grandfathers are melon farmers, which has given her the opportunity to find out what Melon Days is really about. She has even picked a few in her day.
Tawni’s goals include attending a university and earning a degree in secondary teaching with a major in math and a minor in music. She also looks forward to marriage and a family of her own.
Sammy Arnold
Sammy Jean Arnold was born to Randy and Kathy Arnold on July 13, 1987. She has two older half sisters, an older brother, and a younger brother and sister. Her older brother has a mental illness called Autism.
She has spent much of her time helping him and her two younger siblings. She eventually wants to be come a family advocate who works with special needs people, like her brother, and their families. She is currently involved in the school play and is a cheerleader. She is also the school historian.