Mark your calendars!

For Saturday, June 2, 2007. It's the Third Annual Beaver Lodge Local 1504 Beaver Queen Pageant.

To be held in the (hopefully not too) wetlands of the Duke Park meadow, off Acadia St. Pre-pageant activities will begin at 6pm, with the pageant itself starting at 7.

This year's pageant will feature everything you expect in a beauty pageant, including swimsuit, talent, and evening wear competitions, as well as fabulous entertainers, audience participation, prizes and swag, and celebrity judges.

If you were at last year's event, you already know how amazing the pageant is. If you missed it, here's a photo essay from the 2006 pageant.

Following in the tradition established by our hero, Sgt. Dale Gunter of Durham Police, we've got a whole slew of local celebrity judges lined up for this year, including a Durham City Councilperson, a Carolina RollerGirl, a Drag Bingo host, and Durham's hottest mystery blogger. All judges will be taking bribes to vote for your favorite contestant, and all funds raised will be donated to this year's beneficiary, the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, who are doing great things to preserve our natural beaver habitat.

I am also extremely honored and delighted that Dependable Erection is the Official Blog of the 2007 Beaver Queen Pageant. Check back here often to see how the plans are progressing, to meet the contestants and the judges, and to learn more about the history of the pageant.