Mr. Pelican 2024 is ... Klamath Union High School senior, Dominic Armijo. Runner-up Mr. Pelican went to Gus Hendricks and second runner-up, Miles McCalister.
Mr. Pelican lived up to its reputation as an entertaining, sentimental and quirky competition with many spectators filling the seats at the Ross Ragland Theater. Klamath Hospice and Palliative Care, a nonprofit establishment serving the Klamath Basin and Northern California for 43 years, was the contest's beneficiary.
Klamath Hopsice and Palliative Care provide grief camps for children and teens. Two of its camps, Camp Evergreen and Camp Sapling, are free camps intended for children who have experienced the death of a loved one or friend.
Along with Armijo, Hendricks and McCalister, Carter Harmon, Mathyis Horton, Greysen Johnson, Andrew Segura-Mendez showed off their talents during the pageant. Nathan Carter and Josiah Kupitz were also set to participate in the show but had a choir district competition they had to attend.
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Giampietri, Dr. Raul Mirande, Katie Harman Ebner, Vic Knill and Vanessa Bennett were judges for the night.
Klamath Union Associated Student Body, with its advisors Rhiannon Kerr and Heather Shaffer, helped put together the show.
Production Contributors:
Program design: Bella Armijo
Choreographers: Ainsley Garrett and Hysik Bushilla
Directors: Marley Ogoa and Kinna Fried
Script Writers: Bryce Petersen, Kenzi Freid, Leona Higgins, Dallin Peterson
Lil' Pels Organizer: Adalie Giampietri
Headshots: Ben Graham
