Sherry Donaldson

Canceled in 2014, the senior male beauty pageant Mr. Longhorn returned on Wednesday,  March 4.

Selling at five dollars a ticket, the 360 seated show was sold out within a week. The boys participating in the show had to sell at least 10 tickets each. The event raised a total of $2,042 for the Joshua Chamberlain Society.

“I sold all of my tickets within the first day. I kept having to go back to the school store to get more,” senior Joe Guccione said.

Social Studies teachers Annie Wayland, Teresa America, Science ASC teacher Susan Anderson and English teacher Valerie Townsend were the night’s judges.

“The reason I signed up for Mr. Longhorn was because I knew no matter who won I would have a lot of fun. It was great to go on stage and act silly. Participating in Mr. Longhorn was similar to being in theatre except instead of playing a character we got to act like ourselves in front of a sold out crowd,” Guccione said.

The show was broken into three parts: future occupation, talent and formal wear.

“My favorite category was the future occupation. Each person got to choose an occupation and you could put a really sarcastic twist on it if you wanted. Take my occupation for example, I wanted to be a scientist and a teacher so I put them together to be Mr. Charlie Cutelli,” senior Noah Bozue said.

For the second portion of the show each senior showed off his talent either in a group or individually. Talents ranged from Taylor Swift lip syncing to finding Waldo in the crowd.

“I was surprised as to how into it the boys got. They were all super excited and willing to do anything no matter how silly or ridiculous. Whether it was Brian Ingberg dancing to impress the ladies, Anthony Ruffner and Andrew Widowski getting ready for a date or even Taylor McNeal and Cole Harris rapping to Dr. Seuss, all the boys put a smile on everyone’s face,” senior Allison Hughes said.

Hughes and senior Annemarie Daiker were emcees for the evening.

“This year was very special to me since it was my class who was competing. Knowing this was my last Mr. Longhorn is very sentimental and bittersweet since we didn’t have one last year. Although, seeing the boys whom I’ve grown up with strut their stuff on stage was a good way to end high school, in my opinion,” Hughes said.

On the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday prior to the show the boys had rehearsal from 6-8 p.m. Some of the boys practiced on their own before the rehearsals even began.

“Romney Morgan, Robert Nickel, Peter Haupt and I practiced weeks before the show to perfect our ‘Mean Girls’ Christmas dance,” Bozue said.

Twenty-five senior males competed for the Mr. Longhorn title.

“At first I agreed with this stereotype [that we had no school spirit] but we ended up having the biggest turnout of any other year. I am extremely proud of all the boys. When we first started I was unsure whether we would be able to pull it together in time but they all surprised me in the end,” Hughes said.

The judges picked a top five based on their observations throughout the show. To narrow down the top five to the top two,  Daiker waved her hand over each each head of the top five while the audience cheered for who they wanted to win. The judges decided Ingberg and Guccione were cheered for the loudest. After further deliberation, the judges announced Guccione as Mr. Longhorn 2015.

“When I found out I won I was so excited because it is such a huge honor, but really I’m just glad to have been apart of it,” Guccione said.

Guccione was presented with the honorary Mr. Longhorn crown and cape.

“Although I didn’t get to keep it, my favorite part of the show was wearing the Mr. Longhorn cape at the end. I never expected I had a chance of winning. I thought I would get into the top five though because most people find it ridiculous seeing a large boy in a dress, tutu and waving a magical wand around,” Guccione said.