Press Release
The Beaver Queen Pageant is Back in Duke Park!
The 18th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant on Saturday, June 4th
Durham, NC – The Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association and the Beaver Lodge Local 1504 are excited to present the 18th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant on Saturday, June 4th in the meadow at Duke Park (Acadia St at Englewood Ave). Pre-pageant activities begin at 4 PM, and the pageant starts at 5 PM. The theme for this year’s pageant is Summer Camp - Camp Bushy Valley! This free event is a hit with kids of all ages due to the outrageous costumes and audience engagement.
The Beaver Queen Pageant is Durham’s own special mix of folly, pageantry, and humor. Contestants take on beaver personalities and introduce themselves in their wetlands ready wear, participate in an interview in their finest evening wear, and showcase their unique talent. This year’s contestants include: Bevabundancer, Pawryshnikov Gnawjinski, Satine Bieber, Tinder Beaver, and Velour Gnawsett Peltenham Riverdancer West.
Let’s get weird, creative, and gnaw-some as we kick-off the summer together. In addition to the interactive show there will also be food trucks, a Locopops cart, and a lemonade stand. The Scrap Exchange will have a booth where people of all ages can make their own beaver tails and crowns. Dressing up is encouraged.
This year is the Beaver Queen Pageant’s 18th year. The event is uniquely Durham: a mash-up of community, creativity, playfulness, and advocacy for a cause. The first event was held in April of 2005 in celebration of a successful community effort by the Duke Park neighborhood to stop the NC Department of Transportation from eradicating a den of beavers that had taken up residence in wetlands north of I-85. Beverly Woody was crowned the first Beaver Queen following an amazing clog dancing routine.
The event raises money for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA). Past pageants have raised over $221,000 for ECWA. The lead business sponsors include Acme Plumbing, Urban Tails Veterinary Hospital, Vaguely Reminiscent, and Willow Oak Veterinary Hospital. Beer Study, Durty Bull, Fullsteam, G. Crabtree Spaces, and Wine Authorities are sponsoring at the judge level. The public can vote for favorite contestants or bribe a judge at beaverqueen.org.
The mission of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) is to preserve, protect, and restore a healthy, living Ellerbe Creek watershed. Ellerbe Creek flows for more than 20 miles through Durham to Falls Lake, Raleigh’s water supply. Sadly, the Creek is listed as one of North Carolina’s most polluted streams. The money raised through the Beaver Queen Pageant supports ECWA’s long-term goals for the watershed including creating an interconnected network of trails and nature preserves, restoring water quality and habitat in Ellerbe Creek, and creating green space for people in the community to enjoy. Since 1999, ECWA has protected over 410 acres of land along Ellerbe Creek and its tributary streams, restoring these forgotten and neglected areas into community assets as five public nature preserves.
The 18th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant on Saturday, June 4th
Durham, NC – The Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association and the Beaver Lodge Local 1504 are excited to present the 18th Annual Beaver Queen Pageant on Saturday, June 4th in the meadow at Duke Park (Acadia St at Englewood Ave). Pre-pageant activities begin at 4 PM, and the pageant starts at 5 PM. The theme for this year’s pageant is Summer Camp - Camp Bushy Valley! This free event is a hit with kids of all ages due to the outrageous costumes and audience engagement.
The Beaver Queen Pageant is Durham’s own special mix of folly, pageantry, and humor. Contestants take on beaver personalities and introduce themselves in their wetlands ready wear, participate in an interview in their finest evening wear, and showcase their unique talent. This year’s contestants include: Bevabundancer, Pawryshnikov Gnawjinski, Satine Bieber, Tinder Beaver, and Velour Gnawsett Peltenham Riverdancer West.
Let’s get weird, creative, and gnaw-some as we kick-off the summer together. In addition to the interactive show there will also be food trucks, a Locopops cart, and a lemonade stand. The Scrap Exchange will have a booth where people of all ages can make their own beaver tails and crowns. Dressing up is encouraged.
This year is the Beaver Queen Pageant’s 18th year. The event is uniquely Durham: a mash-up of community, creativity, playfulness, and advocacy for a cause. The first event was held in April of 2005 in celebration of a successful community effort by the Duke Park neighborhood to stop the NC Department of Transportation from eradicating a den of beavers that had taken up residence in wetlands north of I-85. Beverly Woody was crowned the first Beaver Queen following an amazing clog dancing routine.
The event raises money for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA). Past pageants have raised over $221,000 for ECWA. The lead business sponsors include Acme Plumbing, Urban Tails Veterinary Hospital, Vaguely Reminiscent, and Willow Oak Veterinary Hospital. Beer Study, Durty Bull, Fullsteam, G. Crabtree Spaces, and Wine Authorities are sponsoring at the judge level. The public can vote for favorite contestants or bribe a judge at beaverqueen.org.
The mission of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) is to preserve, protect, and restore a healthy, living Ellerbe Creek watershed. Ellerbe Creek flows for more than 20 miles through Durham to Falls Lake, Raleigh’s water supply. Sadly, the Creek is listed as one of North Carolina’s most polluted streams. The money raised through the Beaver Queen Pageant supports ECWA’s long-term goals for the watershed including creating an interconnected network of trails and nature preserves, restoring water quality and habitat in Ellerbe Creek, and creating green space for people in the community to enjoy. Since 1999, ECWA has protected over 410 acres of land along Ellerbe Creek and its tributary streams, restoring these forgotten and neglected areas into community assets as five public nature preserves.
|
|
|
Additional photos and video clips will be added to our Facebook photos after the event.
For more information, contact Rickie White at rickie@ellerbecreek.org
Rickie White (he/him), Executive Director
|
Rickie is ECWA’s Executive Director and resident “plant nerd”. For the past 20 years, Rickie has worked to collaborate with citizens, non-profits, and governmental agencies, to implement and manage ecological research and restoration projects in Chicago, DC, and the Southeast United States. Most recently, Rickie led NatureServe’s Southeast conservation science/ecology team in using research to better understand and protect rare ecosystems across the region. When not waxing poetic to innocent bystanders about the wonders of plants, Rickie enjoys gardening, walking his dog Juno through 17-Acre Wood, and imagining what it would be like to be Beaver Queen for a day.
Contact Rickie with inquiries about fundraising and planned giving, potential future partnerships with other organizations, and any assistance you can give us in working towards our vision of a protected corridor from downtown Durham to Falls Lake. |
|
