Fulton native Kaylee Farris has been named Hooters Girl of the Year 2012.
According to a press release from Hooters, that honorary title is given to a Hooters Girl every year "who exemplifies all the qualities of an ideal Hooters Girl."
"I was so excited, I could not believe it (when I found out) - I could not be happier for Kaylee," Tommy Yardy, director of operations for Hooters of America said in the press release. "She encompasses everything a Hooters Girl stands for with energy, beauty, personality and most of all a willingness to help her fellow employees and customers."
Although Farris, 25, was unavailable as she is currently in South Africa to train Hooters Girls for a new store opening in Johannesburg, her mother echoed Yardy's assessment.
"They couldn't have picked a better girl," Courtney Coffelt, of Fulton, said. "She works really, really hard. I'm so happy for her."
She said it was a surprise when Farris - who is a bartender at a Hooters in Fort Smith, Ark. - found out she had won the competition after first being selected by her regional team as their Hooters Girl of the quarter.
"She said she was told they were going to be filming a commercial at her store that day, which she thought was kind of odd," Coffelt said. "She said when the previous Girl of the Year, Morgan (Meyer), walked in and she just started crying."
As Hooters Girl of the Year 2012, Farris will receive $10,000, be featured on "Good Morning America," travel to Afghanistan to sign calendars for the troops, have her own magazine spread and travel the U.S. to do seminars and other promotions.