Sportsman’s Holiday Princess Ashley Byrns says she got involved with this year’s court because it’s an opportunity to learn more about a town she’s lived in her entire life.
Byrns, 17, a junior at Sweet Home High School, is one of eight young women who are candidates to be chosen Sportsman’s Holiday queen for the festival, to be held July 13-15. The queen will be crowned on July 12.
She is the daughter of Liz Gutierrez, and has three siblings: Maria, 10; Emily, 23; and Joe, 24.
Byrns has been involved in the Linn County Peer Court, has been a statistician for the Sweet Home High School wrestling team, is a member of the National Honor Society and works at the high school student store, The New Era, and the Rio Theatre. She also enjoys dancing, art and literature, and has been a member of the professional Gypsy Circle Belly Dance Troupe for nearly two years.
She plans to study genetic engineering in college, possibly at Reed College in Portland or at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
Byrns says she has been interested in the Sportsman’s Holiday Court since she was a little girl and believes that as a member herself, she can “put a positive image of Sweet Home in people’s minds” as she and her fellow princesses appear at area festivals and events.
“What I like best about being here are the small-town values that people here hold so close,” she said. “I love to see prominent members of our community, like the police chief or the city manager, engaging in conversation with other people who don’t have a high or recognizable social status, and doing so in a genuinely respectful and friendly way.”
She said that she thinks she can represent Sweet Home well because she knows a lot about the community and shares “the small-town values that people here recognize.”
“Those on the court show others what Sweet Home is about and are role modeled by younger kids every year,” she said. “I think I can live up to those expectations and also be a positive voice coming from teenagers to the rest of the community.”