SEQUIM — Not only do the four teenagers have to face one of humankind’s worst fears, they also must wrestle with Cindy Bacon’s tough-to-nail topics.

As the 113th annual Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty, Lissa Karapostoles, Jennifer Lancheros, Persephone Nelson and Jenae Stratton must give a series of public speeches to community groups.

Their next appearance: the scholarship pageant March 1 in Sequim High School’s Performing Arts Center.

The four-minute speech is 25 percent of the score in the contest for queen of the Irrigation Festival, with events stretching from late March to mid-May.

The candidates also must answer impromptu questions from the judges and perform a dance together to show their ability to collaborate, said Bacon, the pageant director.

“They have to give speeches on ‘the treasure of Sequim,'” said Bacon, rolling her eyes.

This is Bacon’s ninth year of preparing girls for the pageant.

The night’s climactic moment is the crowning of the teen queen; she’ll win a $1,000 scholarship while the other three princesses will get $750 each.

The 2008 festival’s theme is “Discover the Treasure of Sequim,” and it turns out the royalty has no trouble expounding on that, Bacon said this week.

Lissa wrote about the town’s community spirit; Jennifer’s speech focuses on the Strait of Juan de Fuca; Jenae wrote of hiking in the Olympics and Persephone, who with her parents worked as a Dungeness Lighthouse keeper three years ago, chose the lighthouse as her subject.