A tiara for Ciara

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The beauty of Franklin County swept across the high school stage Saturday night, as six talented ladies vied for the title of Miss Florida Seafood.

The audience was ample and atmosphere electric, as the high school juniors and seniors each sported bright smiles, precious commodities all too rare during this challenging summer of booms and oil spills.

No clear audience favorite emerged by the time emcee Royce Rolstad read the names of the winners, as three of the girls divvied up the four scoring categories of interview, poise and appearance, talent and physical fitness.

When the final moment came, it was Franklin County High School junior Ciara Moore who earned the title of Miss Florida Seafood 2010. The pretty and poised brunette, dressed in an exquisite gown of sheer gold and black, edged out the talented field, winning the interview, and poise and appearance, categories.

“I’m really excited to be the queen, and to learn all my new responsibilities,” said Moore, daughter of Clay and Michelle Moore, of Eastpoint. “I was nervous Saturday a little bit; it was more excitement than nerves. I couldn’t believe I cried.”

Moore has secured the board of director’s approval to name Eastpoint businessman Rex Pennycuff, a longtime supporter of the festival with deep ties to the fishing industry, as her King Retsyo.

“Seafood is the whole community, that’s the main focus,” said Moore. “I appreciate all that the industry has done. A lot of my family has worked in the industry for many, many years. I definitely want to represent the seafood industry in a good way, positively.

“And I want people my age to be able to look up to me as a leader, that you can have a successful life and set a good example without partying or anything like that,” said Moore. “A bunch of younger girls have come up to me. It's an inspiration to me that I can set an example for them.”

Port St. Joe High School junior Tiffany Varnes, 16, daughter of David and Milissa Varnes, of Apalachicola, was named first runner-up, after winning the physical fitness competition.

Franklin County High School senior Breanna Cook, 17, daughter of Duane and Amy Cook, of Eastpoint, won the talent portion for a delightful rendition of “Small Town Girl,” complete with “drinking sweet tea from a Mason jar,” one of the lyrics in the Kellie Pickler hit.

Port St. Joe High School senior Sarah Sizemore, 17, daughter of Ellis and Julie Sizemore, of Apalachicola, was named Miss Congeniality.

Also competing were Katelyn Maxwell, 17, daughter of John and Cheri Maxwell. of Apalachicola, and a senior at Port St. Joe High School, and Oneika Lockley, 16, daughter of Jeffrey and Cydell Lockley, of Apalachicola, and a junior at Franklin County High School.

The reigning queen, Isabel Pateritsas, joined Rolstad onstage to open the pageant to select who will reign over the 47th annual Florida Seafood Festival, Nov. 5 and 6 in Battery Park in Apalachicola. The board of directors has announced that country star John Michael Montgomery, with such hits as “I Can Love You Like That,” and “I Swear” will be the headliner on Saturday night.

After the contestants were introduced, the vocal duet of Tamara Marsh and Scott Kinkead sang “A Whole New World,” and later “Islands in the Stream.”

Rolstad introduced the evening’s three judges, Bernyne Wilmot, administrator of a Marianna child development center and co-director of the Miss Holmes County pageant since 1989; Wanda Langford, a veteran pageant judge and retired from the Holmes County School Board; and Shawn Yao, a senior crime laboratory analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Maxwell opened the talent competition with the singing of “Never Alone,” the song made famous by Lady Antebellum.

Varnes was next, dancing to “There You’ll Be,” the hit by Faith Hill that graced the soundtrack from the film “Pearl Harbor.”

Lockley danced to the song “Reflections,” the song from the animated film “Mulan” that became a hit for Christine Aguilera.

Following Cook’s performance, Sizemore did a vocal skit to the song “I Cain’t Say No,” from the classic musical “Oklahoma.”

Moore closed out the talent portion with a rendition of “Walk on the Water,” a song made famous by Britt Nicole. Moore enjoys singing with Radix, the youth band at the Eastpoint Church of God, and has been writing song lyrics, particularly for Christian and inspirational music.

The girls then changed into their outfits for the physical fitness portion, choreographed by 2008 Miss Florida Seafood Sara Ward with help from Pam Nobles, with whom Ward studied dance for several years.

Pateritsas introduced the poise and appearance portion of the evening by showing the poise that made her last year’s queen, as she sang “American Honey,” the hit song by Lady Antebellum.

Moore, an A student who plans a career as a dental hygienist, praised the women who put together Saturday’s pageant, led by Jennifer Brown, Catherine Scott, Ward and Nobles. “It was well put together and organized,” she said. “The staff did an amazing job with the pageant.”

And she wanted everyone to know something she is bound to be asked as she sets out on her task of encouraging support for both the festival and Florida seafood.

“The oil did not affect the seafood from this county,” she said. “Seafood from this community is completely 100 percent clean and not affected by the oil spill. Seafood from this area is safe to eat.”