Miss Huntington Beach honored with her own spot in rose garden

Miss Huntington Beach for 2022, Gisell Gochman, gave an eloquent speech Wednesday morning at the 57th annual Queen’s Rose Dedication Ceremony at City Hall.

“What a dynamic speaker,” Mayor Pro Tem Mike Posey, the event’s emcee, told the crowd assembled. Addressing Gochman, he added, “Maybe you’ll be mayor in 2036 or something. Keep that in mind.”

Gochman, 19, has most of her life in front of her. She was honored to join the Miss Huntington Beach recipients of yesteryear in selecting a rose bush to represent her reign in the Civic Center rose garden.

Gochman, who graduated from Huntington Beach High in 2021 and now attends UCLA, said she chose the “Sweet Spirit” rose. It is colored deep pink.

Queen Gisell Gochman, 19, right, shows her rose bush to her friends, from left, Jeff Hass, Cristina Stewart and Amanda Khoury before the start of the Queen’s Rose 57th Anniversary dedication ceremony at the Huntington Beach Civic Center Rose Garden on Wednesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

“I’ve loved growing up in this city so much,” Gochman said. “It’s just an amazing community. The Sweet Spirit rose, to me, represents beauty and grace and elegance — all qualities that I hope to possess as Miss Huntington Beach and in the future.”

She was joined Wednesday by her court’s princess Jenny Thach. The other princess, Houng Nguyen, couldn’t attend and was represented by Ruth Stainer Benton, who was Miss Huntington Beach in 2004.

Each received plaques from the Sand Dollars of Huntington Beach, a nonprofit that organizes the Miss Huntington Beach program. Gochman was crowned queen last October.

Sand Dollars historian James Sankey said that 109 Miss Huntington Beach winners have been identified. Starting in 1963, each queen was honored by planting a rose bush in a public location. That location became centralized at City Hall when the new building was constructed in the 1970s.

From left, June Dugmore, Sand Dollars president, Queen Gisell Gochman, Princess Jenny Thach and Mayor Barbara Delgleize pose for group photos after the Queen’s Rose 57th Anniversary dedication ceremony on Wednesday.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

The Women’s Club of Huntington Beach donated $13,500 for the refurbishment and extension of the rose garden in 2015, while Don MacAllister placed a bench in the garden as a memorial to his wife Marilyn.

Miss Huntington Beach will represent the city at several events throughout the year, including the Fourth of July Parade, where she and her court will be in the horse-drawn pumpkin carriage. Gochman said her favorite event so far was the Easter egg hunt.

Shirley Lewis, Sand Dollars executive director, oversees the Miss Huntington Beach scholarship competition. It has been the club’s primary service project since 1977.

“This is a labor of love for the Sand Dollars and myself,” said Lewis, now 87. “This organization and these young girls, they keep me young. Every year, they keep me going. I tell people that God has sent me three beautiful granddaughters to be with all year long. I spoil them rotten for a whole year, then give them back to their parents.”

Huntington Beach Mayor Barbara Delgleize and Councilwoman Kim Carr also attended the ceremony, as did friends and family of each of the court members.

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