James P. Ryan — King Rex XXVII

Ryan, known by his family and friends as “Jamey,” is originally from Mineola, N.Y.

He attended Washington and Lee University and graduated from Texas Tech University.

Ryan is the president and CEO of TriDimension Energy, LP and AXIS Onshore, LP headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Locally, he resides in the Canal Street Depot Condos and is co-owner of Vital Holdings, GW Holdings, and Tucson Real Estate. In total, he employs over 150 local residents.

Ryan is a former board member and organizer of TRB Bancorp, founder of Dallas IMPACT Volleyball Club, a non-profit girls volleyball club, the Richardson Texas YMCA and honorary chairman of the Save our Sports Program of Miller Place, NY.

Ryan currently serves on the Board of TDE Holdings, LP, as chairman of the Britlind Foundation, which recently awarded a Natchez high school senior a college scholarship. He is also a member of the University of Oklahoma President’s Associates.

Ryan resides in Dallas with his wife Andi, where they are members of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. They have two daughters, Brittany and Lindsey who both attend The University of Oklahoma.

He enjoys bird hunting, fishing and cooking.

Wanda Bonner Smith – Queen Rosalie XXVII

Smith graduated from Fort Necessity High School in Fort Necessity, La. She has a bachelor of science degree in zoology with a minor in chemistry from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. She pursued graduate studies at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and NSU.

Smith is a licensed pest control operator in Louisiana and Mississippi. She co-owns Bug Busters Pest Control, Buck Busters Seed Company and The Garden Place in Vidalia.

She has taught science for 20 years and currently teaches chemistry, physics and environmental science at Cathedral High School.

She is a member of the Pilgrimage Garden Club, and she serves on the pageant committee. Smith is also a member of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, the National Pest Control Association, the National Science Teachers Association and the National Audubon Society.

She is a member of Sevier United Methodist Church and attends Jefferson Street United Methodist Church in Natchez. She is married to Ricky Smith who served as Rex XXII.

Her son, Dr. John Wesley Smith is doing his residency at the University of Louisville Medical Center. He, along with his wife Blythe and their son Ty live in Louisville, Ky. Her daughter, Eleanor Wesley-Anne Smith, is a sophomore at Cathedral School and a royal mermaid in her court.

Smith enjoys deer hunting with her family, bird-watching, cooking, reading and spending time with her family and friends.

Carson Brent Smith — Duke Great Sun

Smith is a graduate of Vidalia High School and Northeast Louisiana University where he received his Bachelors of Business Administration degree in accounting.

He is an insurance agent for Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company and Louisiana Farm Bureau Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

Smith is a member of the Life Underwriting Training Council and National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

He is a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and active member in the men’s club.

Smith is married to Rosalie Smith.

The couple has two children, Elizabeth, a fourth grader at Cathedral School and Madeline, a first grader at Cathedral.

His hobbies and interests include hunting, fishing, golf and coaching children.

Susan Swindell Cassagne — Duchess La

Glorieuse

Cassagne is a graduate of LSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in general studies. She received her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

She is the library director of the Judge George W. Armstrong Library and serves as the library administrator of the Natchez-Adams-Wilkinson Library Service.

Locally, she is a member of several organizations including the Krewe of Phoenix, Pilgrimage Garden Club, Natchez Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Natchez Rotary Club, the Krewe of Killarney, the Natchez Historical Society; and is a board member of the Friends of the Armstrong Library and the Natchez Food and Wine Festival. She is a member of the American Library Association, Delta Gamma Fraternity, and has served as president of the Mississippi Library Association and as a state officer of the Mississippi State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. She attends St. Mary Basilica.

Cassagne has been married to Gabe Cassagne for 34 years. They have four children, Juliette, André, Richard and Elizabeth. She is the daughter of Bea Swindell of Natchez and the late Richard Swindell.

She enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, shopping, LSU sports and sharing lazy afternoons with friends.

Ronnie Harris — Duke of Versailles

Ronnie Harris is currently a resident of Vidalia and has lived in Concordia Parish for 38 years. His hometown is St. Joseph, La., where he graduated from Davidson High School in 1966. He later attended Northeast Louisiana University of Monroe and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.

Harris is married to Kaye Harris and they have two children. His son Michael Harris is 32 and is a member of the U.S. Air Force, and is currently stationed in Belgium. His daughter Jill Lee is 34 years old and lives in McComb where she works as an occupational therapist. He has five grandchildren.

Harris is self employed as an insurance crop adjuster. He handles clients in Louisiana and Mississippi and travels to other southern states such as Texas, Kentucky, Alabama and Florida as needed.

He has been a member of the Santa Claus Committee, the Natchez Humane Society and the Elks Lodge for many years.

Harris is a member of Panola Country Club, serving as a board member for three years. He is a member of the Rain & Hail Society and is also a member of the Krewe of Alpheus.

He attends Vidalia First Baptist Church. Harris is a Vietnam veteran and received the Bronze Star during his service. He enjoys playing golf, hanging out at his favorite hunting club and watching all LSU sports.

Eileen Murray — Duchess Marie Therese

Murray attended Louisiana State University and majored in English literature. She is currently employed as office manager with AXIS Onshore, LP, an oil and gas operating company located in Vidalia. She is a member of the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Vidalia Chamber of Commerce. Murray is also a member of the City of Vidalia Planning Commission. She attends Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and is a substitute CCD teacher.

Her passion is horseback riding. She also enjoys LSU football and baseball as well as other SEC games. Murray enjoys hiking and being on the water.

She has two children, Jennifer and Mark, and she is the proud grandmother of her first grandchild, Connor Combass.

Barrett Nobile — Duke Monfort Browne

Nobile is a graduate of the University of Mississippi where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in banking finance and bank portfolio management. Since college he has worked for the Mississippi Department of Banking, Hope Community Development Organization and currently works for United Mississippi Bank. He is a member of the Rotary Club and Rotary Foundation

Karry Hosford — Duchess Panmure

Originally from Washington, Karry moved to the South in 1997 to pursue a culinary degree at Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, S.C. It was there that she met and married her husband, Doug Hosford.

Always interested in photography, she turned her love of cooking and photography into a career at Cooking Light Magazine where she worked as a food stylist and photographer until moving to Natchez in 2003 to pursue a freelance career.

She now produces editorial and advertising images for multiple publications in her photography studio. Hosford and her husband are the owners of High Cotton, a catering and cooking school in downtown Natchez.

They have three children, Jackson, Walker and Abagail Grace. She is a member of Jefferson Street United Methodist Church where she is the president of the JKFaye Womens Circle, International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Natchez Downtown Development Association.

Forrest A. Johnson III — Duke Manuel Gayosa De Limos

Johnson is a financial advisor and vice president with Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. in Natchez. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from Alcorn State University, a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in banking and finance from the University of Mississippi. He also has a certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

Johnson is a certified financial planner, a Pi Kappa Alpha alumni, a lifetime member of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, a member of the Rotary Club of Natchez, a member of the Natchez Young Professionals and a member of the Santa Claus Committee.

He is married to the former Julie Manning of Pine Bluff, Ark. Johnson enjoys traveling with his wife, Julie, playing with his dog, Bailey and Ole Miss athletics.

Kathryn Matheny Nutter — Duchess Marguerite Theresa De Limos

Nutter was born and raised in Natchez. She graduated with honors from Trinity Episcopal Day School. She is also an honor graduate of Mississippi State University and cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine.

Following graduation, she completed a residency in diagnostic radiology and fellowship in musculoskeletal radiology. She is now a practicing radiologist at the MRI of Miss-Lou.

Nutter is a member of Jefferson Street United Methodist Church, Pilgrimage Garden Club, Junior Auxiliary of Natchez, and Krewe of Phoenix as well as several professional organizations.

She is married to Chris Nutter of Natchez, and they have one son Charles Christopher “Charlie”.

She enjoys volunteer work, swimming and gardening.

Tommy Smith — Duke of Monmouth

Smith was born in Natchez but raised in Clearwater, Fla. He has been back in Natchez for 25 years after attending St. Petersburg College and Co-Lin Natchez. He owns and operates Landscape Resources, LLC and has two children, Brittany, 21, a senior at Florida State University, and Tyler, 19, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida. Smith enjoys being outdoors, cycling, kayaking, camping and summers at the lake with friends.

He is president of the Natchez Bicycle Club and an active member of the Community Alliance Trail Committee.

Maureen Corcoran — Duchess Eliza Lowe Little

Corcoran is a resident of Natchez and Vicksburg. She graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of Southern Mississippi and earned a doctoral degree in geology from the University of Mississippi, where she served as class marshal of her graduating class.

She is a member of the University of Southern Mississippi Alumni Association and the University of Mississippi Alumni Association.

She is the assistant technical director of water resources infrastructure and a research geologist at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg. She is a registered geologist in Mississippi and has served on the Mississippi Board of Registered Geologists.

Her hobbies and interests include martial arts, hiking, biking and swimming. She also enjoys watching college football, especially the University of Oklahoma Sooners.

She is active in animal rescue and rehabilitation.

Jeffrey Ross Anderson — Duke Jefferson Davis

Anderson is a native of Norman, Okla. who relocated to Natchez in 2004.

He is an honor graduate from Northeastern State University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics. He pursued his graduate studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in biochemistry.

He then attended Oklahoma State University where he received his medical degree. At OSU, Anderson was the class president and member of Sigma Sigma Phi.

He is a board certified family physician and practices at Anderson Medical Clinic in Natchez.

In Natchez, Anderson is a member of Beau Pré Country Club, Natchez Santa Claus Committee, Krewe of Phoenix, a sponsor of the Natchez Children’s Home and the Boys and Girls Club.

His medical associations include AMA, AOA, MSMA, MOMA and ACOFP.

Anderson’s hobbies include golf, traveling and fishing. He has three daughters, Jaden, Raleigh and Mena.

Andrea Bradford — Duchess Varina Howell Davis

Bradford is a native of Natchez where she graduated from Cathedral High School and attended Copiah-Lincoln Community College. She also attended the University of Southern Mississippi.

She is employed by Craig A. Bradford, D.M.D., where she is the office manager. She also owns By Invitation Only, an invitation and stationery store.

Bradford is a member of the Krewe of Phoenix, the Krewe of Alpheus, the Natchez Humane Society, the Natchez Garden Club and the Cathedral Athletic Association.

She is married to Ray L. Bradford and they have six children, James, Parker, Chase, Rebecca, Cody and Tori. She enjoys shopping, reading, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.