Royalty duo sets a record with $145,082 for 4th of July

Alisha Armstrong won this year's Fourth of July royalty contest with a fundraising tally of $84,582, while Kayla Young raised $60,500 - setting a new record with their effort.

The combined total of $145,082 more than doubled the numbers of the past couple of years - $53,704 in 2023 and $56,260 in 2022 - when only a single royalty candidate signed on for the annual fundraising effort to help pay for Wrangell's Fourth of July celebration.

The totals were announced prior to the start of the talent show July 3 at the Nolan Center.

The two contestants far surpassed the record fundraising year of 2016, when Kyla Teat and Alex Angerman raised $126,408.

Before the numbers were announced, Armstrong and Young thanked their lengthy lists of sponsors. Both girls had similar messages: The contest was about neither of the contestants as individuals, but about what the community can accomplish together.

Heidi Armstrong, Alisha's mother, also spoke before the start of the talent show. "It was a really long winter," she said, acknowledging November's deadly landslide. This year, she said, the royalty contest felt more important than years past. She thanked both contestants for stepping up and running for royalty.

Both Armstrong and Young volunteered after there were no candidates by the May 1 deadline to sign up. The candidates both said they felt they had to run for the community after hearing the Fourth celebrations would be in jeopardy.

They saw their fundraising as more of a group effort than a competition. Young said before the competition that the goal was for both of them to raise the most money ever combined. Though they both had late starts organizing their sponsors, donation lists, menus, events and volunteers, they still raised far more than years past in a little over a month.

Armstrong graduated high school last month and Young will be a senior this fall. Both candidates said they intend to put their share of the proceeds toward college.