The Winthrop ’49er Days committee has announced its 2014 royalty: Grand Marshal Ken Westman, Grand Lady Lois McLean, Queen Vanessa Smith, and princesses Lily Darwood and Katherine Tannehill.
Westman and McLean are both longtime valley residents with decades of ’49er Days under their belts. McLean said she is happy to be representing her hometown and looks forward to attending the final Ride to Rendezvous camp dinner and riding in the Saturday parade.
Smith, Darwood and Tannehill are seniors at Liberty Bell High School, and “all three take their roles as ’49ers royalty pretty seriously, especially around the younger kids,” said ’49er Days committee member Linda Wilson.
The girls presented details about the town’s big event — coming up on May 9 – 11 — to the Winthrop chamber of commerce last Thursday. Ahead of fulfilling their royal duties on ’49er Days weekend, the three will also be speaking to the Twisp chamber and the Methow Valley Senior Center, interviewing with the Methow Valley News and the Omak Chronicle, and visiting the students at Methow Valley Elementary School, Wilson said.
Eight local students, including one boy, interviewed this year for the junior royalty positions before a panel of community members, and “every one was articulate and sweet,” said Wilson. “It was a really difficult choice for the judges.”
In keeping with this year’s theme “Buckboards and Petticoats,” junior royalty are wearing old-fashioned dresses complete with hoop skirts and petticoats, sewn by Donna Martin, and crowns and embroidered sashes donated by Karen Lundgren. Official photos of all the royalty are provided by Miss Kitty’s Old Time Photo Parlor in Winthrop.
