Oct. 31, 2019
Former Mayor Ellsworth Curran (who lived to be 101) was one of the original 12 incorporators of the McCleary Second Growth Festival (later called McCleary Bear Festival). He told me that in the early years of the Fest the girls who were serving in the royalty were actually sent to charm school. One father instructed Ellsworth, "Well, I growed her up. Now you gotta make a lady outta her."
There was at least one Fest in the 1980s or early 1990s that didn't have any royalty.
My question is why the age limit? It seems rather unfair that those of us over the age of 15 cannot also serve as royalty in our own category. Perhaps there could be a Tsar and Tsarina involving those of more advanced years in our community?