Katie Gorman had never participated in any individual pageants prior to April 28, the night she was crowned Miss Onalaska.

The Onalaska High School senior had performed with a group several times as a member of her school’s dance team and show choir, but that couldn’t calm her nerves much during the final moments of the pageant. By then the strutting, dancing and interviews were over. The first and second runners up had been announced, leaving only four girls at center stage, holding hands and waiting to hear the winner.

When the emcee called Gorman’s name, she let out a wide-mouthed gasp of surprise and beamed as she walked forward to be crowned.

“I am amazed. It’s unbelievable,” Gorman said in an interview after the pageant. “I’d never felt like that before. I was shaking all over, and it was just amazing.”

For being crowned Miss Onalaska 2007, Gorman will receive a $1,500 cash scholarship and a heap of free clothes, portraits, gym time and salon treatments. Just as important to her, Gorman will also have the means to get out into the community and spread the message of her platform, “Resolving Conflict through Peer Mediation.”

Lynzi Zettler, Miss Onalaska 2006, said as much during the portion of the pageant when she reflected on her year as royalty.

“After I was crowned, I learned that being Miss Onalaska was more than swimsuits and pretty gowns and a crown. It is about getting into the community and talking about your platform,” said Zettler, a dance major at UW-Stevens Point whose platform was “Get Fit.” In the past year Zettler organized a run/walk at Onalaska Middle School, led a free hip-hop dance class and helped a Girl Scout troupe earn its dance badge.

Zettler will compete in the Miss Wisconsin 2007 pageant June 28-30 in Oshkosh, Wis.

Saturday night’s Miss Onalaska Scholarship Pageant will be the final one directed by Sally Hefti, who has organized every pageant since 1999. She is stepping down due to health reasons.

“What this program gives young ladies is something they can’t get anywhere else,” Hefti said during a farewell speech.

Jackie Hart, a UW-La Crosse freshman, was second runner-up, while OHS senior Kalynn Raifsnider earned first runner-up and the “Spirit of Miss America” award, which is voted on by all the contestants. Rachel Ferrara, Megan Sonnenfeld and Jennay Hart also competed in the pageant.

For the talent portion of the program, Gorman choreographed and performed her own dance routine to the New Radicals’ song “We Just Can’t Get Enough.”

She will graduate high school in two weeks and plans to study elementary art education in the fall at Edgewood University in Madison. While serving as Miss Onalaska, Gorman said she’s excited to teach young people how to resolve conflict through peer mediation.

“I think that it’s an honor to represent your community,” Gorman said. “And I want to be that (person) for the kids of Onalaska, the role model.”