Queen Kyle at first flame up
of the day, and with Chanel
Lucid (8 years old) who had
been designated as the pag-
eant’s junior princess. She
plans to be a contestant in
2026 when she’s eligible.
A Day in the Life of a Garlic Festival Queen
Written By J. Chris Mickartz
W
e met up with the Queen Kyle
Perez-Robinson and her court
at 8 am at the Princess Palace
– the name of the motorhome provided
by Jeanine Koloski, Assistant Chair
Children’s Area.
From 8 to 9 am, the girls prepped for
their day; making sure every hair was in
place and sashes in order. Queen Pageant
Chair, Lauren Mantani (who looks like
she could be one of the girls — only the
lack of a crown and red festival shirt set
her apart) went over the schedule to let
the girls know what to expect. The mood
was light and cheery with last-minute
curling iron exchanges, selfies and small
talk. One of the girls practiced her speech
for the dinner they were to attend that
evening. To the casual observer, they
would appear to be a group of best
friends who had known each other for
many years.
As we strolled over to their first
assignment, the lighting of the garlic
40
bulb, I had the opportunity to discuss
the festival with Queen Kyle. “I’m really
excited, I’ve never really seen the festival
from this side; I’m usually a volunteer,
either helping my mother in her booth
at the Arts & Crafts area or working in
Gourmet Alley for the high school choir.
It will be fun to see it from a different
angle,” she said.
Kyle’s best friend (since second grade)
Brittini Bombino is one of her princesses.
Neither girl had told the other of her plan
to apply for the Garlic Festival scholarship
pageant. This fall, Brittini is attending
the prestigious AMDA (American Musical
Drama Academy) in Hollywood, CA, and
Kyle will be attending Stanford University
in Palo Alto. It was through SKYPE that
the subject came up and they found out
that they had both applied. Once they
realized they would be taking this journey
together, the pageant and all its trimmings
seemed just a little less of a challenge, and
more of a bonding adventure.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
While “having it all” is something
most of us only lust after, Kyle, at the
young age of 23, just does. She’s bright,
attractive, talented and self-disciplined.
At Stanford, she is majoring in Human
Biology (concentration in the biological
and social determinants of maternal and
infant health) and has applied for a
Co-Term Masters program in Community
Health & Prevention Research. Kyle spent
the summer working in a research lab
studying language acquisition in low-
income Spanish-speaking communities,
the result of which is a program that
teaches mothers alternative ways of
talking to kids to improve the quality of
their speech. Data and research will help
Latino parents in “how to influence their
children to succeed when in school.” She
is also working on a series of children’s
books in Spanish — to help parents
communicate with their smaller children.
The lab was run by Anne Fernald.
gmhtoday.com