As she walked around Diekroeger Park grounds selling Strassenbash festival tickets one final time Saturday, Brittany Abercrombie had one thing working for her. "I just smiled," she said. "I told them I was running for Strassenbash queen and I really needed their help." Abercrombie's salesman-like pitch certainly helped her cause. The Wright City High School sophomore outlasted six other contestants Saturday evening to be crowned the 2009 queen. Starting with local businesses and moving her way to family members and complete strangers, Abercrombie smashed the previous record of 1,730 tickets sold set a year ago by Jill Abel, last year's queen. Abercrombie wound up selling 3,039 tickets, a significant part in the judging process. "I really wanted to win," she said after the coronation. "I have a lot of dedication and the tickets were a big part of it. I started with local businesses, family members and people I didn't know. "I didn't think I sold that many." Abercrombie, the daughter of Jamey and Teal Abercrombie, was sponsored by JBC Transport. A year ago, she was second runner-up and took first for top evening gown. This time around, she took first for top speech. "It's very special," Abercrombie said. "It tells me that I can be a bigger part of my community and be dedicated to the community a lot more than what I usually do." Her speech centered around why Wright City is important to her. "My community supports everything that I do and everything others do," she said. "I am very proud of my community." The interview, speech and evening gown portions of the queen contest were held Sept. 13. Jessica Vehige, another Wright City High School sophomore, was first runner-up. She was sponsored by Requat Farms. Morgan Lewis, sponsored by Economy Supermarket, was second runner-up. Vehige was selected Miss Congeniality, an award voted on by the other contestants. She also took first in the evening gown competition. "It was a lot of fun working together with the girls and getting to know each other," Vehige said. "I tried to have fun." Taiylor Beal, sponsored by Shelter Insurance, was recognized for having the best interview. Andrea Vohsen, past queen who served as emcee Saturday night, said the queen contestants kept busy all summer by participating in activities such as the Relay for Life, Warren County Fair, Warren County Kiwanis Club Stuff the Bus campaign and painted the bathrooms at Diekroeger Park. Together, they put in over 1,000 volunteer hours beginning June 1. "It was a lot of fun," Abercrombie said. Richy Kohler, who co-chaired this year's Strassenbash with Karl Finke, was pleased with the turnout from this year's two-day festival. "It was good times with a lot of good people," he said. This year's theme was "Rewind to the '80s." Parade winners were: American Bank (business float), Boy Scout Pack 8355 (open float), Wildcat Marching Band (walkers) and Schubert Farms (horses). Also, the Nintendo Wii, the grand prize from the Save Our Officers Now (S.O.O.N.) raffle, was won by Ryan Hoffmann. Other prizes were won by Roland Niemann ($150 car detail from Gastorf-Schrumpf Motors), Margaret Lange ($100 gift certificate to Economy Supermarket) and Chris Barber ($50 gift certificate to Donatelli's). The money raised from the S.O.O.N. raffle will be used to help pay for new police vests for the Wright City Police Department. A fireworks package, a $700 value donated by Phantom Fireworks, was won by Jack Groeper.