Every spring when the flowers bloom and the hoop skirts come out of attics, so comes a nostalgic feeling for Courtney Taylor.

Spring Pilgrimage queen for the Pilgrimage Garden Club in 1979, Taylor is one of dozens of women who have reigned over Pilgrimage royalty in the 82 years since Pilgrimage’s inception.

The tradition of reigning as queen during Pilgrimage remains relatively the same as it was when she was queen, Taylor said.

Parties and the pomp and circumstance were Taylor’s best memories from her reign.

“When you’re queen, you have parties given in your honor; your mother is honored,” Taylor said. “It was a great experience for my mother to be honored by her peers, and it was certainly an honor for me.”

When Taylor was queen, she said the Pilgrimage parties started after Christmas and lasted until the end of Pilgrimage.

“What’s not special about that?” she said. “What’s not special about the parties and the commemorative gifts you receive from people?”

Serving as queen is a unique experience, Taylor said.

“As a 19-year-old, I thought it was somewhat bizarre compared to the way other people live, but my friends at Millsaps (College) thought it was great and admired it,” Taylor said.

Although the tradition of being queen remains relatively the same, Taylor says each queen’s reign is different through the years.

“I know it all looks uniform and traditional, but it’s like a wedding almost,” she said. “A wedding is traditional, but a bride’s individual style comes out, too.”

Kathie Blankenstein, who reigned as queen for the Natchez Garden Club in 1952, says being queen is very much like being a bride.

Blankenstein said there weren’t quite as many parties in 1952 as there are now or even when her daughter, Vidal, was queen in 1978.

It was a parade, not a party, Blankenstein recalls as one of her most treasured memories as queen.

The parade honored General Douglas MacArthur, who came to Natchez during Blankenstein’s reign.

“He was a huge (war) hero in Natchez, and so we all went out to the airport and greeted him and had a parade,” she said. “I remember my grandmother, who was 90 years old … she had pictures of him all over the house, so that was special.”

In those days, Blankenstein said, the king and queen reigned for the entire month of Pilgrimage. Since she represented the Natchez Garden Club, her king, Handsel Butts, represented the Pilgrimage Garden Club. The two garden clubs rotated the king and queen spots every year.

“That was during the Korean War, and my king had to go off to the Navy, so I had three or four substitute kings for the pageant,” Blankenstein said.

The year Blankenstein reigned as queen was also the year the former queens decided to establish a sort of sisterhood that ties them all together.

“The (former) queens had a luncheon for me, and we had such a good time, we all decided to form an organization and do it every year,” she said. “So that’s when we came up with the Society for the Preservation and Maintenance of Aged Monarchs.”

Just saying the group’s name elicits a laugh from Blankenstein.

“That has gone on for years, and of course we have more queens every year, and we have so much fun. We tried one time inviting the kings, but it wasn’t as much fun with them, so we don’t invite them anymore,” Blankenstein said, laughing.

The change in Pilgrimage Taylor and Blankenstein say may make the experience different for today’s queens is the smaller crowds that come to Natchez for Pilgrimage.

“I remember receiving at Routhland, and they would count 700 tickets a day, never less than 300,” Taylor said. “Absolutely, I think it’s different for queens when there’s a bigger crowd. There’s an electrifying energy in a large crowd.

“But as far as the sentimental and social experience, I don’t think it’s changed at all for them.”

Today is the last day of this year’s Spring Pilgrimage.

But every Spring Pilgrimage, Taylor said, nostalgia floats through the air like the scent of azaleas.

“Pilgrimage brings a nostalgic feeling for all of the springs of my childhood, and they are muddled,” she said. “The scent of hair spray brings forth images of azaleas. The taste of pralines makes me think of dancing Audubon. Holding someone’s hand brings awkward memories of the Maypole.

“Honestly, I think of being queen anytime I dress for a party, particularly if it involves cinching my waist.”

Blankenstein’s reign as queen is a lasting memory for her, too.

“It was just really fun, and it’s something I’ll always remember,” she said.