The birds are chirping, the wind is blowing and the sun is sliming. That can only mean one thing: The newest SLUG queen has been given her mossy crown.

On August 8, after a rigorously sluggish beauty pageant, Eugene comedian and local celebrity Jen Jay — aka, Hilaria Gastrognome, but her friends call her Larry — was crowned as the latest monarch of the Society for the Legitimization of Ubiquitous Gastropods. Absolutely dripping pink head-to-toe, her first message as Queen is: “Ooze the change you want to see in the world. And take gnome mercy!”

The SLUG queen beauty pageant is one of the things that makes Eugene exactly what it is: a cultural hub of hippie ridiculousness. Miss America, Miss Universe and Miss World can all go to sleep, because our little city hosts this pageant to find th

See Full Page