Under the bright stage lights of the Buck Shaffer Theater at the Porterville Memorial Auditorium, the annual Veterans Homecoming Queen/Miss Porterville Pageant unfolded Saturday evening in a display of pride, patriotism, and community spirit. The event — a long-standing tradition leading into Porterville’s Veterans Day celebrations — brought together families, service members, and civic leaders to recognize not only beauty, but devotion to bettering the community through service.

Rows of chairs filled quickly as attendees arrived on Saturday night to watch the 13 pageant contestants vie for the coveted title of Miss Porterville. As the lights dimmed around 6:30 p.m., the sound of applause rose from the audience as the competition pageant began.

This year’s contestants were Emily Garcia,

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