Concussive pyrotechnics go off over Wrangell on Monday, despite the evening's rainfall. This year the fireworks display was held the day before Independence Day, due to scheduling conflicts. It still drew in a big crowd around the city dock and barge yard for about an hour.
On Monday evening more than a month of hard work for two of Wrangell's July 4 Royalty candidates came to an end, with the year's queen and princess each crowned.
Future high school senior Charley Seddon was crowned queen, after selling 46,463 tickets during the month of June. Named the celebration's princess, recent Wrangell High School graduate Hailie Davis sold 44,330. A tight race throughout, together the girls raised over $90,000 for the competition.
A longstanding tradition for the town's Independence Day celebration, the royalty contest each year helps fund the next year's events. It supports the candidates too, with a 30-percent portion of the earnings going toward the girls' future education. Like the celebration itself, the contest is orchestrated by the local Chamber of Commerce.
Seddon and Davis' coronation followed a wearable arts program at the Nolan Center, which had drawn enough of a crowd that not even standing room was left inside the convention hall. People peeked in over shoulders from outside the main doors as the winner was announced.
"We are so thankful to these girls," said Cyni Crary, Chamber executive director.
Being a candidate is no easy feat, requiring untold hours of work on the part of the candidates, their friends and families, and other community members donating their time and resources to the event. The main venue for selling tickets is through the queen booths, two stands inside the covered pavilion on Front Street which are fitted out with kitchens through the month of June. Assisted by teams of managers and helpers, the two candidates each put on a full menu of items to sell to residents and visitors.
Speaking with the girls before the competition kicked off on June 1, both knew the next month would be difficult. To what extent though still came as a surprise.
"I expected it to be difficult, but you get people that cancel or get sick, and so you had to fill in for that spot and be your own spot. So that's a little bit more difficult than I'd planned," Seddon explained. Another challenge was learning how to manage supplies, updating menus as ingredients and items ran out each day.
"It's been pretty easy, pretty good with orders. But the work itself is a massive job," she said.
"Very long," Davis described her days. "We had our busy days, our slow times, and now I have a full view of what running for queen is."
The girls organized additional fundraisers and events as well, such as Seddon's youth carnival and a silent auction, or Davis' ongoing rummage sale. Selling treats outside of stores and at various functions was another boon for the latter. "Treats and fry bread, that seems to get the customers rolling in," Davis said.
At points the competition could also be contentious, with patience wearing thin at times. The Chamber's board received complaints of favoritism and improper conduct during the race, with arguments between managers and other figures making their way to social media, like Facebook.
On June 28 the board had voted to temporarily suspend one of its members, Robert Rang, due to a critical post he had made on the online platform. The scope of the duties of Royalty manager Mikki Angerman were also limited by the board, though both decisions were later reversed in a meeting held the next day.
On the reversal, board vice president Kim Lane explained that, whether the complaints were valid or not, the Chamber currently lacks a code of conduct in its by-laws or a means of formal disciplinary action against its members. President Christie Jamieson further explained that would be a matter for the board to take up later this fall, particularly in the relatively new realm of social media.
"We've never faced a situation like this before," she said. "We just learned a really good lesson, and we need to make some revisions to the bylaws. ... I hope we can now move on. It was definitely a bump in the road, but we got through it."
Bumps aside, the candidates were themselves upbeat about the race and the community support they had received.
"There's people that come here from out of town, and they're so surprised that we do this, and it's awesome," said Seddon.
"I'm so grateful. I've had way more support than I thought I would this whole race," said Davis. "Seeing the same people consistently throughout the week is pretty amazing." She was thankful for the help of her sponsors and supporters, and had some special thanks to Jill and Janelle Privett. "Jill makes our salads every morning and helps us at nighttime," Davis explained. "Janelle has played a huge role in all the events, like the carnival, the rummage sale we keep adding to."
And Davis couldn't forget: "And a special shout-out to the coffee shop girls for keeping the morning rolling for me. Otherwise it would have been really tough."
"I think the competition went really well," Angerman agreed, after Tuesday's parade. "The girls represented the community great. They worked really hard, the community came together to help them out, and overall I think this was an amazing year. Some little bumps, but there always is, and the girls weathered them beautifully."
In the end, Seddon felt the competition was being done for a good cause, and that it was a service she and Davis had undertaken to repay their community. "It's pretty awesome to see what next year's Fourth looks like, what we made out of it."
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