2013 Royalty Court presented at Stikine Inn

The Royalty Court for the 2013 Wrangell Fourth of July celebration was officially presented last Friday night, May 31, at the Stikine Inn – and the month-long push toward a fundraising goal of $100,000 began in earnest.

The three young women taking part this year, Darian Meissner, Kayla Rooney and Jennifer Ludwigsen, were all present as Queen Mother Jill Privett introduced them to the audience. Afterward, she commented on what it meant for the large crowd to come out and support the trio taking part in this year’s event.

“I’d rather be called Queen Aunt,” Privett said laughingly. “The turnout was excellent because of all the advertising we did ahead of time. It showed that the community is really behind them. They are pretty excited and pretty nervous at the same time, but it was a good kickoff for them.”

According to Privett, one of the contestants has a special goal in mind for this year.

“I’m not going to name any names, but one of the girls has set a goal to sell $50,000 in tickets by herself, just to give you an idea,” she added.

The 2012 Queen, Laura Massin, along with Jaynee Fritzinger and Veronica Blunt, raised a total of just over $80,000 for their efforts.

During the presentation of the candidates, each of them read aloud a statement of why they wanted to run for the Queen spot – and help support the Fourth in Wrangell.

Darian Meissner, a junior at Wrangell High School said she wanted to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother, a former Queen herself.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I have been amazed by the 4th of July celebration,” she stated. “It has been my favorite holiday forever. Watching the past queens get the crown put on their head, made me decide that that was going to be me one day. My grandma, Aileen Lewis-Meissner was a queen long ago, and I have always wanted to follow in her footsteps. I remember getting invited to escort my grandma to the stage during one of the coronations. It was an amazing experience. Ever since then, I knew that I wanted to be queen one day like my grandma … Winning this competition wouldn’t be a huge accomplishment just for me, but for my whole team. I have a team of people helping me every step of the way, and I know that I would not be able to do this without them. Coming from a competitive family, we are doing everything to the best of our ability to win. We are going to push it as hard as we can to get through this crazy month. We are playing to win, and I’m very excited to see how it turns out.”

Recent WHS graduate Kayla Rooney is running and after the 4th she said the money she makes will help the city – and her plans for the future.

“I feel running for running for queen is important to the community next year for the Fourth of July and the money I get will be helpful for me when I go to college, using it for tuition,” Rooney said.

Rooney also related her memory of her first Fourth of July in Wrangell.

“I remember it clearly,” Rooney added. “It was pretty nice outside that year. There was a bunch of road games and booths outside and it was tons of fun. I remember always trying to get away from my parents so I could go do my own thing, but was never allowed to because there were so many people.”

Jennifer Ludwigsen, also a Wrangellite who grew up in the Borough, said she has extremely fond memories of the Fourth as a young girl.

“There’s a saying we all grew up with, ‘there’s no place like home,’ Ludwigsen stated. “Well Wrangell, Alaska has been my home since the beginning. I have lived here my entire life. Every year since I was a little girl, I remember how much I have enjoyed the 4th of July festivities. From the colorful parade and the amounts of candy that people would throw, to the smell of the delicious aromas coming from the queen booths, and watching two brave souls battle each other on logs, wondering who can stay on the log long enough until you have no choice but to fall into the icy cold waters, to the sound of ‘toss your egg now.’”

The queen candidates will sell tickets and run their trio of food booths in downtown through July 1.