Special Queen honored with special day

MOSES LAKE — It was quite a gathering late Friday at the Red Door Cafe, people slowly trickling in.

“Congrats!” said Sharon Beckley as she shook Alex Boorman’s hand and gave her an envelope.

“Thank you!” Boorman responded, smiling.

“You look so pretty!” Beckley said.

Boorman smiled again.

“Thank you!”

“What’s your year like?” Beckley asked.

“Busy!” Boorman responded with excitement.

It was a busy evening, with the mayor showing up, proclamation in hand, and everyone in Moses Lake who wears a pageant crown — Magan Waldron, Mrs. Washington USA, and Shree Saini, the reigning Miss India USA — in attendance as well.

All smiles and congrats for Boorman, who also stood out with a tiara and a sash and a bright pink dress as the Special Star Queen 2018.

The Special Star Pageant was started three years ago by Pamela Curnel, the organizer of the Mrs. Washington USA Pageant, who said she was moved to start a pageant for kids with Down Syndrome.

“The kids light up, even if they can’t speak two words, this is everything to them,” Curnel said. “It lights up their souls.”

Curnel said that while the Special Star pageant has mainly been a local affair, she hopes to move it to Bellevue next year, to make it more centrally located and encourage more statewide participation.

“It’s fun,” Curnel said. “Everyone’s a winner. There’s one queen, but everyone else is a princess.”

But Boorman wasn’t just the guest of honor in a sash with a tiara. She’s also the daughter of Red Door owners Lisa and Rick Boorman, and she baked all of the cookies being served that night and regularly works alongside her mother baking at the cafe.

“We encourage Alex in whatever she wants to do,” Lisa said.

“I’ve seen her on Facebook a lot,” said Beckman, a family friend. “I wanted to come tonight to congratulate her.”

“This cause is very near and dear to me,” said Moses Lake Mayor Karen Liebrecht, who read a proclamation making Friday “Alex Boorman Special Star Queen Day” in the city of Moses Lake. “I had a sister who was special needs, and there were not these kinds of opportunities when she was born.”

“This is the best part of my job,” the mayor added.

Joanna Flagon, last year’s Special Star Queen, also arrived, a little fashionably late, to show her support for Boorman.

“It feels like I still am queen,” Flagon said. “I’m volunteering a lot.”

Boorman, however, was mostly smiles for the evening.

“I like meeting people,” Boorman said. “I love to dance, I love to sing, and I get coffee later tonight!”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.