LAKEPORT— Wess Nelson was selected as this year’s Mr. Lake County after competing pageant style and performing in a variety of categories including swimsuit, evening wear, interviews and talent. At the end of the event held Saturday at the Soper Reese Theatre in Downtown Lakeport, all the votes were tallied and Nelson took home the coveted belt while others were awarded for receiving the most sponsors and calendar sales.
The event is a fundraiser for the Lake County Theatre Company with proceeds going towards the building of their permanent facility. According to organizers, in live auction items alone the LCTC raised almost $4,000 dollars and also had raffle items as well as ticket, calendar, and vote sales. The pageant’s Master of Ceremonies was Sarah Dutra alongside co-hosts Larry Richardson, Time Barnes, and Gary Deas. The LCTC thanked their staff, volunteers, and sponsors for making this event possible with Richardson expressing his gratitude individually thanking people by name. He noted, “We appreciate any volunteer work and we apologize if we forgot to mention your name.”
Nelson’s theme for the night was clearly patriotic as he donned American flag gear throughout the event. For the talent portion of the evening Nelson performed a lap dance wearing a pair of rather short Daisy Dukes, which was auctioned off to an audience member for $200. Introducing the talent segment Richardson announced, “They have been very creative over the years, really anything you can imagine.” Several of the other contestants presented musical ensembles for their talent with Cody Eden performing his own song “Werewolves of Lakeport”, David Sammel playing “Mathematics” by Mos Def on his djembe drum and Looch Moreno creating an unexpected mash up of Pantera’s “Respect” and “Hold the Line” by Toto. Each performance had the crowd fully engaged with the audience singing along to every song.
Besides the song and dance, other contestants opted for a stand-up comedy skit, like Dan Fossa’s roast of his opposition – the other contestants. Tod Elliott drank a beer while flipping through pictures of “himself” to the song “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer” and Michael Maravich illustrated his tango skills with help from a blow up doll, presumably the same doll used for Daniel Suenram’s massage demonstration. All in all, the contestants’ talents kept the audience in stitches.
The swimwear competition was also a highlight of the evening as contestants wore every type of bathing suit available from speedos to full body suits, including women’s wear as demonstrated by Sammel who chose a blue one piece with white trim and a white coverall. Fossa won the most votes for this portion, Moreno was awarded the most votes for the talent portion, Tony Gonzalez won the formal wear section, Fossa won again in the interviews, and Mick Jonesen sold the most calendars while Fossa got the most sponsorships. Ultimately Nelson took home the belt and will hold the title of Mr. Lake County 2023.
In addition to the male performances, a female group of dancers referred to as “the girls” presented a choreographed piece set to Cher’s “Burlesque” and returned in the second half with the song “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton, a sneak peak at the LCTC’s upcoming production “9 to 5.” For more information on the LCTC and Mr. Lake County pageant please visit their website laketheatre.org.
