Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
McKenna Burnett has joined the 2008 Sportsman’s Holiday Court following the resignation of Princess Larissa Bjornsen.
Bjornsen is busy with many obligations with her success on the high school equestrian team and other activities, court coordinator Wendy Younger said.
“I respect the fact that she would make the choice she did. A lot of young people would’ve hung on and not given 100 percent.”
Burnett, 17, is the daughter of Rick and Alice Burnett. She is a junior at Sweet Home High School.
She was close to the initial six chosen for the court, so close that Younger and coordinator Chelsea Frick had considered expanding the court to seven, Younger said. Because it was their first year, they decided to stick with six princesses.
“I think she’s a great kid,” Younger said. “And I think she’s going to be a great princess, a great representative for Sweet Home. She’s involved, excited to be on the court and has a great attitude.”
“I was pretty excited when I got the call,” Burnett said. It’s good for preparing for college and her resume and she will get a chance to get to know some of the girls on the court.
She already is friends with some, she said.
She thinks the most fun “probably will be the parades and the Chamber of Commerce things (After Hours) like we had last night,” Burnett said. She is looking forward to the court’s visits to groups, like the City Council. She has developed an interest in government from her advanced placement government class.
She is active in cheerleading and gymnastics.
The court will attend its first parade, the Scio Lamb and Wool Festival, on May 17, Younger said, and the court will start getting out to see the service clubs soon. The court will participate in Carriage Me Back in Brownsville and the city’s Spring Event and tree fair on May 3.
With Burnett, the court includes Tracy Smith, Ella Butler, Alyssa Logan, Dany Petermen and Allison Rice.