Jim will crown Segdoune queen
On Saturday, June 25 St Winning’s Primary pupil Emma Montgomery will be crowned Kilwinning’s 49th Segdoune Queen by Kilwinning Community Sports Club’s Jim Hodge.
Deputy Queen is Hannah Graham of St Luke’s Primary School, while the remaining Royal Party are Emma McNaught of Abbey Primary, Kayla Murphy of Blacklands Primary, Hallie Graham of Corsehill Primary, Chloe Dickie of Pennyburn Primary and Ellie Hill of Whitehirst Park Primary.
For the first time in over a decade the carnival is moving to McGavin Park in the town’s Dalry Road.
And to celebrate the move Promoting Kilwinning are planning a parade as part of this year’s crowning of the Segdoune Carnival.
Starting from Church Street just off Main Street at 12.30pm.
It will then travel up Main Street onto Howgate Road then up Dalry Road to enter McGavin Park about 1pm.
This year’s ceremony and parade will be part of the ACES Super Splash spectacular.
Joe Broussard, chairperson of Promoting Kilwinning, said: “Promoting Kilwinning are very pleased to have been invited to share in ACES big Community Engagement Day.
“We are still looking for someone who has made a significant contribution to the community of Kilwinning to carry out the crowning.”
At the park there will be stalls, fun events for young visitors and Colin Young and the team at ACES who plan to transform the park into a fitness zone, will have plenty of activities on offer.
It’s a tradition that has taken pride of place for almost 50 years in the town.
Segdoune is an ancient name for Kilwinning, possibly meaning Saint’s town. Margaret Simpson was crowned the first Segdoune Queen in McGavin Park in 1947 following a carnival and fancy dress parade, complete with decorated floats and a Pipe band.
The event was organised by the British legion, the Town Council and Kilwinning Co- op, and was held to raise funds for the Welcome Home Committee, the money going to help members of the Armed Forces demobbed after WW2.
The event took a major lift in 2002 when the Town Criers Championships were added to the event list. The event proved a huge success with town criers coming from all over Britain and as far afield as Australia.
The Segdoune Royals have been as follows: 1947 Margaret Simpson; 1948 Betty Walker; 1949 May Morrison; 1950 Sybil Barclay; 1951 Betty Finlayson; 1952 Agnes Simpson; 1953 Margaret Ramage; There were no competitions between 1954- 76, 1977 Sandra Lauchlan; 1978 Lynn Thomson; 1979 Julie Coombe; 1980 Amanda Urie; 1981 Angela Thomson; 1982 Jacqueline Porter; 1983 Yvette Ramsay; 1984 Kirsty Louise Campbell; 1985 Lynn Simpson; 1986 Louise McIntee; 1987 Clare Kelly; 1988 Allison Muir; 1989 Maria Gillan; 1990 Claire McAlpine; 1991 Sarah McDonald; 1992 Lynsay Rankin; 1993 Carla Bunce; 1994 Marlene Fitzsimmons; 1995 Cheryl Burns; 1996 Carrie Anne Cochrane; 1997 Linsey Cockburn; 1998 Fiona McCarlie; 1999 Toni Sweeney; 2000 Nicola Weir; 2001 Angela Hunter; 2002 Jessica McKee; 2003 Karly Grimes; 2004 Leonie Neill; 2005 Shannon McCulloch; 2006 Emma Craig; 2007 Carly Malcolmson; 2008 Gemma Steven; 2009 Holly Robinson; 2010 Charis Fenney; 2011 Karah Murphy; 2012 Rachel Dean; 2013 Emily Reid; 2014 Lauren Caldwell 2015 Katie Stevely.