By Steve Powell

spowell@marysvilleglobe.com

MARYSVILLE – Sarah Turral is this year’s Marysville Strawberry Festival queen, and her little sister, Elizabeth, is on the junior royalty. But they aren’t the first family member to be involved in the royalty.

They said their mom was on the royalty court 34 years ago when she was in high school. “My mom was involved, and she’d tell me about it,” Sarah said. She also has friends who encouraged her, as did Elizabeth.

“They did it last year,” Elizabeth said of some of her friends.

Sarah, a junior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, said she’s dreamed of being queen since she started going to the parades when she was 5-years-old.

“I’ve been to every one, but one” since then, she added.

As for her favorite part of being queen, Sarah said it’s “being a role model; someone to look up to.” Her least favorite part, “Waking up early.”

Both of the princesses on the senior royalty this year are seniors at Marysville Getchell High School.

Denise Jacobsen has some experience with the festival, as she was on the junior royalty when she was in the sixth grade. She said being on the senior royalty is a little tougher than her previous experience. First of all, the outfits are more complicated, she said. Also, being older she feels more responsibility. And, finally, there are about three times as many parades that they attend.

Like Sarah, Denise enjoys dancing on the float, the fun atmosphere and “making a whole lot of people happy.”

Harman Uppal is the other princess. She said she was surprised she made the squad because of a lack of experience. But growing up she remembers people she knows being involved in the parade. “It was so cool the gown and crown,” she said, adding she knew then she wanted to be a princess when she got older.

Like the other two, she loves dancing on the float. They dance to the songs “Do You Believe in Magic?” and “Ever, Ever After,” both choreographed by former festival queen Kennedy Doty. “It’s so fun to watch the kids copy the dances,” Harman said.

As for the junior royalty, Elizabeth attends 10th Street Middle School and is in the eighth grade, as is princess Jimena Yanez. Rozalynn Edwards also is in the eighth grade, but attends Totem Middle School.

Elizabeth said she enjoys watching parades.

“There was so many people all lined up along the streets,” she said. “People were yelling their names, even though they didn’t know them.”

Jimena is excited to be in the parades, too, but she’s a little worried about how messy and clumsy she is.

“I hope I don’t eat something and get it everywhere,” she joked.

Rozlynn said she wants to get into a top college like Harvard or Stanford, and experiences like this one can help get her there. She definitely plans to try out for the senior court in a few years.

Her favorite parts of the position so far are hanging out with other princesses and “everybody cheering.”