Jill Vinzant of Jemison is wrapping up her reign as the 2011 Peach Queen, a role she fulfilled as seamlessly as a previous Peach Festival pageant winner can.

Vinzant, 17, is one of only three people to have won all three of Chilton County’s Peach Festival pageants: Little Miss Peach, Junior Miss Peach and Miss Peach. (Young Miss Peach was added later.)

The Miss Peach crown she earned last summer—the most prestigious crown in Peach royalty—led her through new experiences.

“I had to speak a lot more this year. I got to be more of a leader to the other girls, too,” Vinzant said. “It’s been so much fun.”

Vinzant and her fellow Peach queens stayed busy with public appearances, Christmas parades, grand openings and community events.

“Right after the festival last year, we took a basket of peaches to Gov. (Robert) Bentley,” Vinzant said. “It was probably one of my favorite years.”

Vinzant said she is thinking about entering pageants offering scholarship money, adding, “I’m not done yet.”

She will be a senior at Jemison High this fall and hopes to attend Auburn University after graduation.

“I’d like to go into dentistry, but I’m also looking at politics,” she said.

Vinzant said she recently attended Girls State and plans to spend time relaxing at the beach this summer before band camp begins. She will continue to be a majorette in the JHS Blue Regiment Band.

Vinzant’s advice to the next Peach Queen is this: “Stay humble and remember that God’s given you this opportunity for a reason. He wants to use you through this. Don’t ever get to thinking it’s all about you.”