Firecracker Queens return to Ashland's Fourth of July Parade

ASHLAND, Ore.- After not participating in Ashland’s Fourth of July Parade since before the covid pandemic, the award-winning Firecracker Queens are making their long-awaited return.

The mission of these queens is to get the crowd dancing and singing along with them. They’re also asking for just a little respect with their song choice Respect by Aretha Franklin. According to Co-Leaders Wendy Conner and Suzanne Mathis McQueen they’ve got more queens than ever before with 55 dancers in their entourage including “security guards” and other helpers.

“We started with a list of queens from previous years, pretty much everybody was in, and then we just said, ‘we want as many queens as possible’,” Conner said.

The local comedic dance troop starts practicing in February with participants ranging in age from 25 to 85. From seasoned royalty to newly crowned queens, the queens say it’s just a blast to be a part of it.

“Every single time, I’ve wanted to be here because it’s so much fun and we’re not promoting anything, we’re not selling anything, we’re just trying to entertain the crowd and make Fourth of July really special,” Fourth-time Queen Colleen Pyke said.

“There’s dancing, there’s costumes, and I’ve done both of those things. I love dressing up, so I was like ‘that sounds fun for the Fourth of July’. I’ve watched the parade, but I was like ‘it’s probably going to be a different experience to be in it’,” First-time Queen Autumn Riedl said.

The dance troop graced Ashland’s Fourth of July Parade with their presence in the past, winning first place in a category each time. The troop graciously accepted first place in the beauty pageant category in 2018 and first place in the neighborhood category in 2015 and 2007. But McQueen and Conner say they don’t need a win to know their worth.

“Doesn’t matter to us. We already know, we’re already royalty,” Conner said.

“Yeah, we’re already queens,” McQueen added.

“You know, we’re- the monarchy is here,” Conner continued.

“Everybody works really hard so it’s a really fun thing to be a part of,” McQueen said.