Throwback Thursday: JBF Award Winner Sherry Yard's Crowning Achievement

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but after more than 20 years of Beard Awards ceremonies, some photos are just begging for a caption. This TBT we’re highlighting a snap of JBF Award winner Sherry Yard that has captured our collective imagination. Fortunately, at our recent Chefs Boot Camp on Avery Island, Yard spilled the beans on her regal attire and gave us a little insight into the inner monologue of a winner on awards’ night:

I had been nominated a bunch of times and I always brought my mom and dad with me. I was sitting in general admission with them instead of in the nominee seat the company had gotten me, so we were in the second to last row, all the way in the corner. Gale Gand had won the Outstanding Pastry Chef award the year before so she was presenting, and I hear her call my name. I was making my way through the row of seats and it was taking forever. I hear Gale say, "I'm not sure Sherry is here..." So I started running. As Gale starts to say that they will accept the award on my behalf, I pulled out my hanky and started waving it, yelling, "No!" I could hear everyone clapping and I was thinking, "They're taking me seriously!" And then, as I stumbled up the stairs, I looked across the stage to where Gale was standing at the podium. She was looking at me and holding up a tiara. Realizing she was about to put this tiara on me, I thought, "They're never going to take me seriously!" I had so much hairspray in, once that tiara was on, it was stuck for the rest of the night. 

The 2015 James Beard Awards nominees will be announced this coming Tuesday, March 24. Catch up on the latest awards developments and news here.