WILLMAR -- A pair of born-and-raised Willmar residents were chosen as 2016 Willmar Fests senior ambassadors Wednesday afternoon at the Willmar Community Center.
Allan and Carol Rambow received medallions from 2015 ambassadors Marvin and Marde Kinzler to make their appointment official. They will accompany Willmar Fests’ Queen of Festivals, Aqua Princess and International Princess -- to be crowned Saturday -- along with junior royalty to parades across the area this summer.
The theme of this year’s coronation was “Somewhere over the rainbow, there’s your pot of gold.” The crowd of former senior ambassadors, 2016 Queen of Festivals candidates and other senior citizens was serenaded many times Wednesday by the Willmar Area Senior Club’s coronation singers. The group was led by Phyllis Williams, who served as emcee of the event.
The coronation singers, each sporting a colorful hat, sang “The Rambow Connection,” a slight variation from Kermit the Frog’s “The Rainbow Connection,” and even pulled out muppets to help welcome the Rambows to Willmar’s senior throne.
If the Kinzlers’ experience is repeated, the Rambows should be in for a fun year. Marde told the crowd, upwards of 130 people, that it was a joy and privilege to represent Willmar.
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“We were treated like royalty,” she said. “It was a wonderful year, but it went by too fast.”
Both Marde and Marvin said that their float was the best in every parade in which they participated.
“It’s something that’ll stay with us for a lifetime,” Marvin said.
The Rambows expressed that the whole experience will encompass more than rainbows and gold, though.
“It’s a big commitment for our aged people to do,” Carol said, before adding that “it’ll be fun.”
Allan enjoys baseball, woodworking and hunting, while Carol’s hobbies include quilting and listening to music.
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