Chamber begins royal recruitment efforts

Feel like getting the royal treatment? Well, it’s going to take some hard work.

Wrangell’s chamber of commerce has begun recruiting efforts for this year’s royalty competition, with winners announced during the Fourth of July festivities.

The contest is a fundraiser for the chamber, which sponsors the annual July 4th activities, and for the candidates, who get to keep a share of their sales.

The candidates sell as many raffle tickets as possible through door-to-door efforts or by including the tickets as part of food sales. Last year’s ticket sales totaled almost $115,000, close to the $126,408 record in 2016.

“If they’re going to have a food booth, they have to have a food manager and a booth manager. There’s always a ticket manager,” said Brittani Robbins, executive director of the chamber. “It is possible to run without a food booth, but if you do and someone else has a food booth, you won’t win.”

That doesn’t have anything to do with the people running, she said. “Having a food booth downtown, centrally, people are going to go by there for lunch, every day. So having a food booth really makes a big difference.”

Whoever sells the most tickets will win the title of king or queen. Runners-up will be bestowed with the title of prince or princess. A coronation is held during the Fourth of July celebration.

Raffle winners have the chance to win first, second or third place cash prizes. Last year’s prizes were $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place. This year’s prizes have yet to be determined by the chamber board.

Of the proceeds from the ticket sales, roughly 40% pays for the three-day Fourth of July celebration the following year. The royalty candidates get about 30% of the funds to use as they want. The rest goes to expenses, such as printing the raffle tickets and paying ticket, booth and food managers

Royalty candidates also need to find sponsors, using any money raised from sponsors as they see fit. Sponsors can be silent or can choose to be advertised by the chamber.

The royalty contest is open to residents 14 years old and up. Kickoff for fundraising is May 31 and lasts through June. Sign-up forms are available in the chamber of commerce office inside the Stikine Inn. Food booths need to prepare dishes in certified kitchens.

Though it can take a lot of effort to compete, past winners have come away with thousands of dollars. Robbins is hoping to muster up plenty of interest, since contestants have dwindled over the years.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” Robbins said. “We want to reward everyone because it’s not an easy job at all.”