SEQUIM — A group of teens is looking to become Sequim royalty.
Brayden Baritelle, Caroline Caudle, Emma Rhodes and Tilly Woods are seeking seats on the Sequim Irrigation Festival’s royalty court, including the top spot of king or queen. They will participate in the Royalty Ambassador Scholarship Pageant at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Sequim High School Auditorium, 533 N. Sequim Ave.
Tickets are available from contestants, at the First Federal Sequim Avenue branch or at the door. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for those 10 and younger.
The royalty will represent Sequim and the festival, going into its 131st year, accompanying the festival float at other festivals and events. After a year of service, the Royal Ambassador Court each will receive a scholarship, with the king or queen receiving $1,250 and prince or princesses $1,000.
The pageant will be emceed by Guy Horton, and it also will honor the outgoing royalty.
The Sequim Irrigation Festival is set for May 1-9 and is Washington’s longest continuously running festival. For more information about the festival, visit irrigationfestival.com.
The candidates include:
Brayden Baritelle
Parents: Susan and Andre Baritelle.
Sponsor: Shappie Agency — Farmers Insurance.
Platform: Food insecurity.
Creative display: Discussion on woodworking.
Baritelle attends Sequim High School and has lived in Sequim all his life. His best memory of the festival is going to Family Fun Day as a boy.
He signed up for the royalty court because it sounded like a fun experience, and he hopes to add it to his list of accomplishments. Baritelle said he’s hoping to be crowned king because he has a friendly rivalry with last year’s prince, Malachi Byrne.
His hobbies and activities include woodworking, volunteering, extracurricular activities at school and scouting. He’s currently a Star rank in Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America, and plans to get his Eagle rank in the coming year with plans to install a produce-washing station at the Sequim Food Bank for his Eagle project.
His platform is focused on food security at the food bank, where he’s volunteered for about four years. He hopes to bring in more volunteers as well as awareness to the level of community need.
Baritelle plans to attend Washington State University to pursue a finance degree.
Caroline Caudle
Parents: Natalie and Michael Caudle.
Sponsor: Olympic Psychiatric Care.
Platform: Rooted in Reading.
Creative display: Discussing cell biology.
Caudle has lived in Sequim for about a year and a half after she moved to the area to avoid Texas’ hot weather and to be closer to her mom’s side of the family. She attends Sequim High School and has enjoyed watching the festival’s Grand Parade and seeing the cars, floats, decor and people in costumes.
Caudle participated in a pageant in Texas, where she was a princess in the Lampasas Snow Queen Pageant. For Sequim’s pageant, she said she doesn’t necessarily want to be queen because she finds being a princess just as honorable.
“I’m fine with getting anything, and technically I’m somewhat of the princess of my family,” she joked.
Her hobbies include reading classic literature and psychology books, running cross country and playing tennis.
Caudle’s platform is “Rooted in Reading.” She wants to read to the community, including seniors in assisted living facilities and children in schools.
She wants to attend a prestigious school like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Oxford to pursue either a career in criminal justice or as a biologist or lawyer.
Emma Rhodes
Parents: Michelle and Jason Rhodes.
Sponsor: Diamond Roofing.
Platform: Water safety.
Creative display: CPR demonstration.
Rhodes has lived in Sequim her entire life and attends Olympic Peninsula Academy (OPA).
She fondly remembers attending the Children’s Parade when it was in downtown Sequim, and she and her brother dressed up in outfits to match the festival float’s steamboat theme. She also had a carriage for her American Girl doll.
As for becoming queen, Rhodes said the queen’s job is to represent the community in the best way possible and that any one of the candidates could serve well as king or queen. She also thinks it would be amazing to follow in the footsteps of her friend Isabella Williams, who served as queen.
Rhodes’ activities and hobbies include being a volunteer for the festival, YMCA and OPA parent-teacher association, a swim instructor, a lifeguard, a member of the Sequim High School swim and bowling teams, gardening and video games.
Her platform is to bring awareness to water safety because she feels it’s very important, especially in Sequim, with so much open water.
She wants to attend either the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia or Western Washington University to become either a pediatrician or medical examiner.
Tilly Woods
Parents: Shannon and Christopher Woods.
Sponsor: Woods Guitar Service.
Platform: RISE Rescue Alliance.
Creative display: Singing “Somewhere That’s Green” from “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Woods moved to Sequim from Port Orchard five years ago and attends Sequim High School.
Last year she participated as float support for her sister (Princess Roxy Woods) at the Marysville Strawberry Festival, where she met and befriended fellow contestant Emma Rhodes and really enjoyed the experience.
Woods said she’s participating at the encouragement of her family and sister.
“I started coming to these practices, and Roxy started helping me prepare, and it was a really great experience to just hang out with my sister and have something that connected us, especially since it’s her senior year and she’s gonna be moving,” Woods said.
Woods’ hobbies and activities include playing the piano, guitar and ukulele, singing in the school choir, performing in theater, bowling and swimming.
She also leads an annual fundraiser to sell lemonade, popcorn and balloon animals to support pet adoptions. Her platform is to support RISE Rescue Alliance, a dog adoption group.
Woods plans to go to the University of Washington or Oregon State University to become a teacher.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
