Lights and pageantry

PORTALES - The Christmas spirit lit up the night Friday, with the participants of the little miss merry christmas pageant leading the city's parade.

Addison Dominguez won the title of little miss merry christmas after raising a record $6,851. The pageant raised over $17,000 this year with 12 contestants, which far surpassed last year, which collected about $4,500 from four contestants.

The money goes to the city's White Light program, which helps businesses decorate for the holidays.

Addison's mother Debra Dominguez was crowned little miss merry christmas in 1989 and the family decided to go the extra mile to help Addison win the crown this year.

"The pageant is pretty much the same as it was," Debra said. "We really wanted Addison to win this year because I had won and it was very meaningful to us that she did too."

Addison's sponsor was Creighton's Town and Country and she raised extra money through raffles and donations.

"She had to go out and work to sell those raffle tickets. She had to go around and talk to people," Debra said. "She set up at the store, introduced herself and asked people to support her."

After a month of raising money, the participants of the little miss merry christmas Pageant met Thursday night to share a little about themselves and see who would be crowned queen.

Tyleen Caffrey hosted the pageant and asked each girl questions about themselves, Last year's winner, Adelyn Gosset, handed out gift bags to each participant and crowned Addison during the ceremony.

"I try to keep things Christmassy or find something on their bio we can talk about with them and draw them out of their comfort zone," Caffrey said. "I find things that are their hobbies or talk about their pets."

Addison said she had fun at the pageant and while fundraising and said she was thankful to everyone that donated to support her this year. She sat on the lead float during the parade with her fellow contestants.

The Portales High School Rams championship football team came next, celebrating its 12-1 season.

There were 55 floats this year, which Karl Terry, executive director of the Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce, said was an increase over last year.

The parade winners this year were as follows:

Dairy Farmers of America tied for first with Hampton Farms for the Business category. DFA had a "A Christmas Story" themed float, while Hampton Farms brought a train themed float topped by the Grinch.

For best non-profit, the Rams tied with the Dora Fire Department, which brought out a vintage fire truck towed along by its modern equivalent.

The best float in the religious category went to the Portales Church of God.

Terry said he was happy with the turnout for both parade participants and spectators.

"It was a good night. The weather was nice and we had a lot of people out watching," Terry said.