Sixth time the charm for Susan Alasky, crowned 2024 Three Rivers Festival Senior Queen

Apr. 8—WHITE HALL — Sounds of crumpling tissue paper, chatter and laughter filled the dining room at the Fairfield Inn and Suites.

Fifteen women scurried anxiously Saturday to remove the paper to try and find the bounty of a red rose. The red rose holder would go on to become the 2024 West Virginia Three Rivers Festival Senior Queen, while the other roses — each white — earned each woman the title of princess.

"Oh my gosh, I won," Susan Alasky, of White Hall, said as she unraveled the paper.

Alasky smiled and set up erect in her chair as the other 14 women applauded in support. She was then asked to stand up and wave to her new court.

There are no judges or competitions in the Senior Queen pageant. On the surface, it's a pageant, but it's really an event designed to uplift senior women, and to create a space for them to make friends and support each other, even if it's for just one day. Participants must be 60 years or older and pay a $10 entry fee.

"Part of what this is about is so that we know that life goes on after you become a senior citizen. And we ask the ladies to admit to being 60 or above," Senior Queen Pageant Coordinator Marcell Yaremchuk said. "And so many times when you're 40, you don't ever think about being 50 or 60. And then when you get to 60, you can't even think about what's going to happen."

"But if you still have women who are 93 and still driving and joking around and able to have fun, it gives you confidence that there is life after you become a senior citizen and after you retire, you can still have friends — you don't have to sit home and knit," Yaremchuk continued.

Alasky's story, prior to Saturday, had been one of 'always a princess, never a queen,' as she had taken part in the pageant for five years prior.

"I think the Three Rivers Festival is a great festival and I wanted to be involved with it and I keep coming back because I just think it's great and we want to get as many people as we can out there to do this," Alasky said. "Now you're just here to support each other and you come back, you win or you don't win, so you come back to support the ladies next year."

Alasky stays active in the community by volunteering at a number of agencies, such as the annual United Way Day of Caring. Last year, she traveled to Keyser, West Virginia to participate in their local Senior Olympics after learning about the competition while attending a trip to Florida with a group from their Senior Center.

She came home with five gold medals for the 20-yard dash. Olympics event organizers told Alasky she was the only Marion County participant to ever take part in the event. She wants to help promote the Senior Olympics during her reign as Senior Queen.

"I think seniors can just keep going on, keep doing it and you're going to stay strong, build muscle, build bones and just have fun," Alasky said.

During her tenure, as the 2023 Senior Queen, Susie Colvin rode in different parades where she represented the Festival and appeared a number of times at Marion County Senior Centers to serve as a Festival ambassador.

"This has been a beautiful journey for me and I met a lot of wonderful ladies and I mean it really was. I loved every bit of it," Colvin said

She told the women to call her if they needed any advice in the coming year. When asked what that advice would be, she said, "To go ahead and do it and be yourself."

For the second year in a row, White Hall Mayor Jason DeFrance had the honor of crowning the Senior Queen and her court.

"I think it's a big event for this area, for the community," DeFrance said. "You can see how much it means to these young ladies here to be a part of it. I'm glad that they have this portion of the Festival in [White Hall] so it's definitely a very good event for the area. It's something that's been you know, going on for years and building and it's just a great event for this area."

For West Virginia Three Rivers Festival Board Member Cody Layton, it was his first time attending the Senior Queen Pageant. He likened the event to a small community where everyone knows and cares for one another.

"It is about community involvement, everyone coming together," Layton said. "We just wish the new senior queen all the best of luck during her reign this year. I can't wait to really meet her and get to know her.

"I know one of them said that she was gonna wear hers[crown] all day and they're never gonna take it off and like you've heard some of the stories before. Their family members really appreciate it. It's a great honor."

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.