Winterfest royalty introduced

After being announced last week, candidates for Carson High School’s Winterfest king and queen had worked through their nerves by Wednesday — or so they thought.“I would say our initial reaction was surprise, then nervous,” said Allie Davis, 17. “Now, it’s just exciting.” But just before the assembly began Wednesday morning to introduce the candidates to their peers, the jitters made a comeback.“I’ve got goose bumps,” Kellcy Bell, 17, told her fellow queen nominees.The candidates, six boys and six girls, were selected by their classmates by popular vote.“It’s an honor,” said Shannon Flaherty, 17. “It means that we mean something to our class.”The student body will vote this week, and winners will be announced during half-time of Friday’s varsity basketball game.As part of the week’s activities the school will host a concert from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. today in Senator Square. The pop/rock band Goodnight Argent, which has performed on MTV, Bravo and Showtime, will be performing covers of the Top 40 songs as well as their original music.The king and queen will be crowned Friday by Miss Carson City Vannesa Macias. The dance will follow 7-10 p.m. Saturday.When it comes to predicting a winner, Kalee Young, 18, said it’s nearly impossible to guess who will be crowned queen. “It’s nice,” she said. “We’re all so diverse, so it’s hard to tell.”For Kenzie Tillitt, 18, winning isn’t as important as the nomination itself. “To me, it was a sign of acceptance,” she said. “I’m a little different.”When it came to guessing which boy would be crowned king, the girls were less reserved. They shouted out names and reasons.But on the other side of the gym, the boys weren’t venturing a guess.“No comment,” said Jacob Connell, 18. “I have friends over there. I can’t choose.”