West Seattle Hi-Yu Royalty pictured outside the Admiral UCC during today's breakfast fundraiser. Senior Court, Left to Right: Princess Rosemarie Unite, Queen Kelsey Bills, Princess Victoria Ferrulli. Junior Court, Left to Right:Princess Kaitlin Lindell, Queen Taylor Nichols, Princess Riley Fredricks. Standing in front of them is newly-crowned Junior Queen Thea Pulido, 9, who begins this fall. Click on photo for slideshow.
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The Hi-Yu Community Breakfast fundraiser, part of the West Seattle Hi-Yu celebrations throughout the month of July, was held this morning at the Admiral Congregational United Church of Christ. Present were the new West Seattle Hi-Yu Junior Court members Queen Thea Pulido, 9, Princess Elena Kline, 11, and Princess Amanda Elder, 11. They were crowned yesterday, and begin serving this fall.
The current Senior Court and Junior Court also attended.
The room was filled with eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, and plenty of royal, ear to ear grins.
"We've been involved with Hi-Y for 45 years," said Joanne Louise Murray who with husband Jay are the official Hi-Y photographers with "Photography by Murray's J2".
"We do need more volunteers to join Hi-Yu to keep the celebrations going," she added. "We need more girls. It is not a beauty contest. It is a scholarship program. They gain so much by being in Hi-Yu learning public speaking, meeting different people, developing other skills. Many have gone on to have incredible jobs."
"I can't wait for the West Seattle (American Legion Grand) parade so that everyone in the community can our float," said Senior Queen Kelsey Bills, who attends University of Puget Sound in Tacoma and majors in molecular and cellular biology. "We've had six parades already and have won five awards. I recruited Thea, the new Junior Court Queen. I talked to her at the Christmas Tree Lighting and her mom came up to me yesterday and told me that I was the reason she ran this year."
Junior Court Queen Taylor Nichols' mother Angela owns Funky Jane's Consignment in the Alaska Junction. Her grandma, Mary, owns Many Moons Trading Company, also in the Junction.
"Being the Queen has given me the opportunity to work on my speech, and to speak out loud," said Taylor. "It does give me confidence to get up on stage."
The next Hi-Yu event is Concert in the Park, WS Big Band, at Hiawatha, Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. They will then appear on their float this coming Saturday during the American Legion Grand Parade beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Genesee and Edmunds Streets.
