By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Only one word could describe the outcome of last weekend’s state Sugar Queen Pageant in New Iberia — sweet!

The three representatives from the River Parishes took the top three honors at the pageant with Hailey Keller of Paulina coming home with the crown.

Catherine Monica, the reigning St. John Sugar Queen, and Chelsey Hymel, the current Miss St. Charles Parish Festival Queen, were first- and second-runners up, respectively.

“I didn’t expect it,” said Keller. “It was something I’d always kind of hoped for.”

Keller, 22, is a graduate of Lutcher High School and the daughter of Kelly and Tracy Keller of Paulina.

“I come from a big sugarcane family,” Keller said. “I know they were proud.”

Prior to winning the Miss St. James Parish Pageant, Keller had competed in the Festival of the Bonfires Pageant in 2007. She said in the intervening years school obligations kept her from entering pageants, but this year, as her eligibility was in its last year, she decided to give the crown one more try.

Going into the pageant, Keller had a little extra moral support than most of the other contestants. Last year’s Sugar Queen, Jade LeBlanc, also of St. James Parish, is Keller’s second cousin.

Since winning the title, Keller’s calendar has filled up, as she will now have to attend other statewide pageants such as the cotton pageant and the rice pageant. She is also scheduled to attend the Washington, D.C., Mardi Gras celebration, where another St. James native, Leah Aucoin, will serve as queen.

“I’m excited, and I’m looking forward to doing as much as I can,” said Keller.

Also at last weekend’s festivities, which coincided with the annual Louisiana Sugarcane Festival, Suzanne Cancienne, a past St. John Sugar Queen and one of the current organizers of the pageant, was this year’s special honoree.