WINSLOW — After four days of defiance, Molly Lybrook, who had been mistakenly named Winslow’s Miss 4th of July pageant winner, conceded her crown.

Lybrook, 17, of Fairfield, stepped down Wednesday night after meeting with judges who scored pageant competitors. She has decided not to be part of the parade or festivities this weekend, according to Leah Frost, the pageant organizer.

“I respect her decision,” Frost said.

But Frost added that she wished both girls could share the crown. “I think she deserves to shine, too.”

Lybrook was declared the winner Saturday, but was told the next day that the tally had been counted incorrectly and another contestant, Caitlin Grenier, 14, of Winslow, actually had won.

Organizers offered to name both contestants co-winners, and give each a sash, a crown and equal billing with both riding in the pageant car at Saturday’s parade.

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Lybrook initially rejected the compromise and refused to give up the crown. In an interview with the Morning Sentinel this week, Lybrook said she shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s mistake, and that she believed Frost’s connection to Grenier, who is a friend of Frost’s sister, swayed the results.

Lybrook didn’t answer a phone call or an email Thursday requesting comment.

The panel of judges went over their scoring with Lybrook at the meeting Wednesday to explain how the mix-up occurred, Frost said, adding that she wanted the judges to explain to Lybrook that Frost had not been involved in scoring and couldn’t have rigged the pageant.

The mix-up was a “small mathematical error” that happened when a pageant accountant forgot to carry the 1 on the score sheet for the final question for the top semifinalists, Frost said.

After talking to the judges, Lybrook decided to back out of the pageant entirely instead of sharing the crown, Frost said.

“She’s upset. I understand. I would be, too,” she said. “Hurting people is not what I wanted to do. That’s why I wanted them to share.”

Frost was a pageant winner in 2008 and 2010 and has been active in the pageant for 10 years, three years as the lead organizer.

The pageant will update its scoring system next year to have two accountants triple-check results and might use a smartphone app to make sure everything is tabulated correctly, Frost said, so a mix-up like this won’t happen again.

 


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