Melissa Noto wasn’t just the judges’ choice as the 2003 Gilroy
Garlic Festival Queen. She also won the vote of her
competition.
GILROY – Melissa Noto wasn’t just the judges’ choice as the 2003 Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen. She also won the vote of her competition.
Noto, who was awarded the crown in a packed Gavilan College Theatre at the Garlic Queen Pageant Saturday night, was also chosen Miss Congeniality by the other nine contestants.
“What we’re looking for is someone who can represent Gilroy and the Garlic Festival,” said Don Christopher, who was judging the competition for the third time. “Melissa Noto is a very fine lady. This is her third time in the Garlic Queen competition. She was second runner-up, first runner-up, and now she’s the queen.”
Gilroy residents Lisa Marie Ramsey, who won the talent competition, and Jenelle Costa were named first runner-up and second runner-up, respectively. The three women received a combined $2,500 in scholarships and $1,800 in cash prizes from local organizations and business for taking part in the pageant.
Noto, 20, was born and raised in Gilroy and graduated from Gilroy High School in 2001. She is a sophomore at the University of California, Davis, studying microbiology and communications.
“I’d seen the pageant before, and I really wanted to represent the city of Gilroy,” Noto said. “I’ve learned something new every year. All two years so far have been really fun.”
The pageant consisted of four judged categories, including a speech on garlic, competitions in talent and evening gown and an impromptu question asked by masters of ceremonies and former Garlic Festival presidents Sam Bozzo and Gene Sakahara – who at one point in the show were crowned the first “official unofficial official” Garlic Kings.
Noto performed a rap for her garlic speech, which brought her first place in that category, and sang “The Shoop, Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss).” Her microphone wasn’t functioning at the beginning of the rap, but she ignored the problem and just sang louder while the audience, which was clapping to the beat, quieted to hear her perform. Part way through the song she got the microphone working again.
“It worked out great because the crowd clapped quieter, and I knew my voice would be loud enough,” Noto said. “One of the girls on the side told me to flip the switch on the bottom of the microphone, but it didn’t work. Then I gave up on it, and when I tried again later it started working.”
Ramsey, a 2001 Gilroy High School graduate who attends Gavilan College and will attend UC Santa Cruz in the fall to study economics and law, said being in front of a crowd is hard enough without dealing with microphone problems.
“The most difficult part of being up here is knowing who I invited and knowing that they’re out there,” she said. “You just want to throw up.”
Besides being at the Garlic Festival for all three days, the queen and her court will attend Gilroy’s Fourth of July parade, Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce events. Noto may also go Gilroy’s Japanese sister city, Takko-Machi, if invited to its garlic festival.
The nine women who were not named queen will be invited to join her court.
“The other girls were so perfect,” Noto said. “I’m so glad that we’ll all still be together.”
