Gadient is crowned as pageant queen in Dyersville

     Gabby Gadient made the most of her opportunity to compete in the Dyersville Semi-Pro Baseball Tournament Queen Pageant, being announced as the 2020 queen during a ceremony Friday, July 31 at Commercial Club Park.

     Gadient was selected among 16 contestants following an interview process that took place July 23.

     “I was in so much shock,” Gadient said. “It was a cool experience.”

     Gadient became the fifth Monticello candidate to win the queen pageant in its 70-year history. Previous winners were Carla Folkers in 1958, Deborah Crow in 1969, Patricia Rockford in 1983, and Taylor Aitchison in 2012.

     On Friday, Gadient and the other contestants rode in convertibles around the baseball diamond, as brief biographies of each candidate were read. Gadient said it was her first time in a convertible, which was driven by Monticello’s Mike Holmes.

     “He kept me calm,” Gadient said. “He kept saying, ‘You’re going to win for sure,’ and I was like, ‘No I’m not.’ ”

     The candidates were then escorted by Little League players on a red carpet to an area near the pitcher’s mound.

     The public address announcer began calling out the winners.

     “The girl I thought was going to win was third runner-up,” Gadient said.

     At that point, Gadient and a new friend she had made, representing Key West, believed their hopes had been dashed.

     “We both knew we didn’t place,” Gadient said.

     Instead, both of them did. The Key West candidate was first runner-up, and then Gadient was announced as the 2020 queen. She received a crown and a cape from the previous year’s queen.

     Gadient said she was proud to represent the Cubs.

     “It means a lot,” she said. “I’m really happy I could do that, and have the chance to win that for them.”

     She returned to Commercial Club Park Saturday night as queen, and handed out awards to the champion and runner-up teams, as well as individual award-winners.

     “It was a cool experience,” she said.