Miss North Carolina Victoria Huggins and Miss Henderson Shanice Street will be the guests of honor at Chick-fil-A of Henderson’s Princess Night being held Thursday, June 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Guests are encouraged to dress up like their favorite princess and enjoy princess-themed items and activities. Huggins and Street will be on-hand to talk to guests and sign autographs.
To add to the feeling of royalty, John Faucette of Carolina Carpet & Flooring has donated a red carpet for the occasion.
Both Huggins and Street were recently on WIZ’s Town Talk program to discuss their participation in Princess Night and their experiences as Miss NC and Miss Henderson, respectively.
Huggins, who was crowned in June 2017 and whose year as the reigning Miss NC will soon be over, had this to say about her experience, “For two more weeks, I’m the 80th Queen of the Tarheel State. I love my job as Miss North Carolina. I’ve literally traveled from Murphy to Manteo, over 36,000 miles in my Ford and now with 301 appearances under my belt.”
While Huggins has enjoyed her experience, she said she is looking forward to a break and some downtime. “Winning the crown means 365 days of full-time service to NC, said Huggins. “You have to stop your job and your education for that year. You have to dedicate your life to the citizens of NC. It has been my greatest honor.”
Along with the responsibility of traveling and making hundreds of appearances, Huggins said winning Miss NC also meant “a $20,000 scholarship, an apartment in Raleigh, use of a car for a year and free Chick-fil-A meals for a year.”
Huggins explained that her main motivation for entering the pageant was for the scholarship opportunities so that she could graduate college debt free. “I have now earned over $30,000 in scholarships which has allowed me to graduate from UNC Pembroke debt-free and will allow me to complete my master’s degree from John Hopkins University online debt-free as well.”
According to Huggins, the Miss America organization is the leading scholarship provider for young women in the world.
“My goal of completing school debt-free was all possible because of what some people see as just a crown and a sash. It is so much more – it has made me an empowered, confident and educated young woman.
Shanice Street, the reigning Miss Henderson, hopes to be crowned Huggins’ successor as Miss North Carolina. The Miss North Carolina 2018 Finals will be televised live on ABC11 and ABC11.com on Saturday, June 23 at 8 p.m.
Street, who was crowned Miss Kerr Lake in September 2017 and Miss Henderson in February 2018, is currently busy “practicing my dance routine, figuring out wardrobe, exercising and reading current events to prepare for the interview portion of the competition.”
While attending classes and cheerleading for Wake Forest University, Street also finds the time for a job which enables her to pay for all of her own competition expenses.
“Sometimes I do struggle,” said Street. “I’m human and I get tired. The most important thing I’ve learned is to persevere and continue on despite obstacles. Everything isn’t going to come to me easily but working for it makes it so worth it.”
Street’s motivation is serving as a role model for others. “As a little girl, you always look up to these women as role models,” Street said. “It really is an honor for me to have the opportunity to hopefully be that to someone else.”