Community Corner
Daffodil Royal Court Honors the Memory of Chief Leschi Princess During Parade
The Daffodil Royal Court honored the memory of Chief Leschi princess Alexandria Cole by adorning buttons with her image and decorating her seat with flowers and a special, hand-woven crown from the Puyallup Tribe.
While Saturday’s was bright with sunshine and smiles all the way down Sumner’s Main Street, the loss of Alexandria Cole, the Chief Leschi princess , was felt throughout the Royal Court.
Sumner High School princess Carly Lange choked back tears when asked what she remembered most about Cole.
“She had this gorgeous smile and that beautiful hair… she was so sweet,” said Lange. “When the children were around she just lit up.”
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To honor Cole, Daffodil Festival organizers put her photo on what would have been her parade float seat and surrounded it with white daffodils. The Royal Court wore buttons with Cole’s photo on their sashes.
“We really wanted to honor her today,” said Bonney Lake High School princess Angela Crone.
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Wynonna Smith, the 2011 Chief Leschi Daffodil princess, Princess “Nona” to the court, walked next to the float wearing a sweatshirt with Cole’s photo on it.
Since Cole's tragic death, festival organizer Steve James used the Daffodil Festival Facebook page to honor her memory. He posted candid photos of Cole with local children and changed the banner photo to one of Cole during her speech at the .
"There is just no textbook for this sort of thing," James said.
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