West Springfield colleen Ainsely Kearney.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sophie Markham
WEST SPRINGFIELD — The evening of Feb. 8 was supposed to be an evening to celebrate the crowning of a new colleen who will represent West Springfield and the St. Patrick’s Committee of West Springfield.
Instead, the coronation event turned into a night of confusion. There was a mix-up over which contestant was actually chosen as the 2025 colleen and it was unresolved by the end of the event.
There were five finalists vying to become colleen. However, because of what has been called by the committee as an “unfortunate error,” the wrong contestant was announced as the winner.
West Springfield Town Councilor Brian Clune, who emceed the event at Storrowton, received an envelope when it came time to announce the winner. He was given an envelope with the No. 3, but without a corresponding name.
Judges who choose the colleen and her court are required to include the contestant’s name and number in the envelope. But this year, only the contestant’s number was in the envelope — and it was apparently from a preliminary event.
According to the committee, since some contestants did not advance to the final court, “this discrepancy caused a misalignment in their on-stage order during the awards ceremony.” This caused the name of the third contestant listed in the program and on-stage to be read instead of the name of the intended recipient.
The committee said the mix-up was due to “human error” and that as soon as it discovered that the wrong contestant’s name was read, its board of directors immediately launched an investigation.
The day after the event, the board met with all contestants and their parents to review the situation.
According to a post on the committee’s Facebook page, the contestant who was mistakenly crowned “graciously stepped down,” allowing the contestant who was intended to be called so she could take her place as West Side’s official colleen.
In a post on Feb. 12, the committee said, “We sincerely apologize to all contestants, their families, and the West Springfield community for this unfortunate error. We deeply regret the confusion and any distress it may have caused.”
The statement went on to say that to prevent such mistakes in the future, the committee has implemented “additional measures to ensure accuracy in our processes.” They include:
- Providing judges with a cross-referenced list of contestant numbers, names and photos
- Enforcing a stricter tabulation process
- Strengthening rubrics for each scored component.
Two members of the committee reportedly resigned as a result of the mix-up. The committee did not respond to requests for a comment by press time.
The committee also asked on its Facebook page that the community “refrain from discussing this matter on social media out of respect for all contestants. Each of these young women demonstrated remarkable grace, dignity, and integrity throughout this challenging situation.”
The committee ended its post by saying: “With the matter now resolved, we look forward to moving ahead and celebrating a joyful St. Patrick’s season, honoring our colleens as they deserve.”
West Springfield’s 2025 colleen is Ainsley Kearney. She will ride on the float with her court on March 23 in Holyoke’s St. Patrick’s Parade. The committee was established in 1959.
