Donna Fontaine sat in the audience in the Moorpark High School Performing Arts Center with mixed emotions.

In her lap was a toy poodle named Sarah, the family dog. In the parking lot, her car was packed with as many of the family photos and mementos as she could gather, as well as the family parakeet Belle.

On stage at Moorpark High School, her daughter, 21-year-old Jacquelynne Fontaine, was crowned Miss Ventura County 2004. Back at home, possible disaster.

"Policemen and firemen went up and down our neighborhood telling us we had to prepare to get out," said Fontaine. "It happened just as I was preparing to go and support my daughter at the competition."

Under the ash and smoke, the 2004 Ventura County Scholarship Competition took place in Moorpark as scheduled Oct. 25. Dressed in evening attire, many at the annual event were unaware of the fires raging in the nearby mountains while still others were already being issued orders to evacuate.

With a house in a neighborhood adjoining Moorpark College, Fontaine was one of the latter. The family had moved to Moorpark two months ago after living 22 years in Oxnard.

"I sat there and prayed for my neighbors," she said. "I thought about my house and how we had just moved in two months ago. I thought about all the things, still in boxes that I couldn't locate. And all the while, I watched my daughter perform on stage. It was very surreal."

The new Miss Ventura County is a senior music major at California Lutheran University.

Sixteen-year-old Julie Reichel, a student at Camarillo High School, won the Outstanding Teen title.

First runner-up in the Miss Ventura County pageant was Jennifer Marshall of Thousand Oaks. Second runner-up was Lindsay Clayton, also of Thousand Oaks. Jessica Humphrey of Ventura was third runner-up; and Brittanie Morris of Camarillo was fourth runner-up.

In the Outstanding Teen competition, Moorpark resident Kathryn Hicks was runner-up.

The Miss Photogenic title went to Jessica Humphrey.

The two pageant winners, Reichel and Fontaine, tied for the top talent honors, playing ragtime piano and singing opera, respectively.

The Miss Ventura County and the Ventura County Outstanding Teen competitions -- preliminaries to the Miss California contests in the Miss America pageant system -- were designed around a Broadway theme.

The event was sponsored by the Miss Ventura County Scholarship Organization.

"Despite everything that was happening outside, it was a really great show," said June Dubreuil, one of the teen judges.

"Everything the girls did was very entertaining and very age-specific and appropriate. But as a judge, I'm looking for specific things. It's not just about talent; candidates have to be engaging as well."

Dubreuil said Reichel was a standout because of her natural and authentic manner.

"She had an ease and grace to her that I sometimes don't see in adults," said Dubreuil. "She made a real impression on me."

There was an after-party at the Grinder restaurant in Moorpark, but a brunch for the winners and their families was canceled Sunday because of the fires raging in the east end of the county. The event will be rescheduled later this month to give the winners the itinerary for coming events they will participate in before running for the California state titles next year, including this weekend's Blue and Gray Civil War Re-enactment in Moorpark and the Camarillo Christmas Parade.

"Looking back, it's a wonder that we didn't get the order to evacuate the auditorium," said Carolyn Schrimpf, a pageant coordinator and director of judges. "It's has to be our most unusual pageant for that reason. But we had a packed house all the way to the end. The girls were phenomenal."