For 11 years, the St. John Parish Queen of Hope pageant has helped raise awareness and funds in the battle against cancer.

Sunday will mark its 12th year, and pageant directors Angie Lehrmann-Klibert and Katie Lehrmann-Boylan couldn’t have imagined the success it would yield in the coming years when they began the event in 2003 as a fundraiser for their American Cancer Society Relay for Life team: the pageant is the centerpiece of the team’s fundraising efforts, and those efforts have generated over $70,000 for cancer research.

Sunday’s event will take place in two stages, its baby pageant (boys ages 0-3, girls 0 and up) beginning at noon at St. John Theatre and Queen (women between 17-23 and not married), Teen (ages 13-16) and Ms. (ages 24 and up and married and/or with children). The baby competition will begin at noon, with the latter three starting at 4:30 p.m.

Lehrmann-Klibert said she and her sister began participating in Relay for Life as teens, and their investment in the cause has grown over the years.

“I was only 14 years old when I first participated in Relay for Life,” Lehrmann-Boylan said. “At first I was excited that I would get to stay out all night long, but then Relay for Life began and the Survivors made the first lap.  I was hooked.

“The strength and pride the survivors showed as they marched past me was breathtaking. I became more and more inspired by these cancer-fighting superheroes by the second.”

Lehrmann-Klibert said the sisters created the pageant not just to raise funds toward finding a cure for cancer, but to provide spokespeople for cancer awareness. Each year, a new voice is crowned for St. John the Baptist Parish and its Relay for Life.

To that end, the pageant has been undoubtedly a successful venture. The pageant queens have traveled to hundreds of events throughout the state representing St. John Parish and Relay for Life over the years.

“Our queens travel from festival to festival throughout the state,” Lehrmann-Klibert said. “What we enjoy the most about (the pageant) is the chance to reach out to our youth and seeing them take on an interest in raising awareness.”

She said the interview process delves into the prospective contestants themselves and also their knowledge of Relay for Life and what it stands for.

“Everyone walks out (of the interview) just a little more invested in the cause,” Lehrmann-Klibert said. “Our youths can continue reaching out and creating awareness.”

She said in many cases, past queens have come aboard on the sisters’ Relay for Life team, which has been recognized as one of the top Relay teams in St. John Parish and throughout the New Orleans Metro area.

“Our attitude is, our past queens become part of our family, and that never changes,” she said. “They’re always a part of our family.”

Entries for all divisions will be accepted at the door: The entry fee for the baby through Junior Miss pageants is $55 and the entry fee for Miss, Teen and Ms. is $80. In addition, one can enter the Covergirl competition at a fee of $5 per picture. Attire for contestants ages 0-12 is parent’s choice. Only Teen and Miss contestants will have interviews at St. John Theatre the day of the pageant beginning at 9 a.m. Contestants should arrive by 8:45 a.m. to register. Attire for the interview is Sunday best/suit and the pageant is formal wear.

For more information, call Angie Lehrmann-Klibert at 504-858-2462 or Katie Lehrmann-Boylan at 504-214-3062 or email queenofhopepageant@yahoo.com.

Lehrmann-Boylan, who, along with her sister, has spent the past 15 years leading Relay for Life teams, said she knows one day the battle against cancer will finally be over.

She plans to be on the victorious side.

“I have never looked back, I have never stopped fighting, and I have never lost hope.  There will be a cure and when that happens I will know that however small it may have been, I helped to get one step closer to a cure.”