All About Us

The Battle Ground Sweet Potato Queens began in 2002. Queen Outrageous, having been rejected as a Jr. Rose Festival Princess in 1964 for being too short and too fat, was still facing the need to be in a parade and wear a tiara. Forty-some years later, she finally realized there is no law that says you cannot be a queen.

Queen Outrageous decided to make a float called "Always Wanted To Be in a Parade and Wear a Tiara" for the Battle Ground Harvest Days Parade. She shared her idea with girlfriends and female family members who thought it was a totally fabulous idea.

Wanting this to be special, Diva research was done. The Official Sweet Potato Queens® were found. They have chapters all over the world and our group was immediately signed up as who knew there were women like us everywhere. The signature Tiara and Sunglasses were immediately sought out, and by parade time we had discovered our Inner Divas.

In an official ceremony aboard the float, the first Battle Ground Sweet Potato Queens were crowned. Each was given their own Queen name which describes something about them. Of course, unaware that this would actually develop into something so Diva-licious, some names that were given are a little on the racy side. (See "The Queens")

The parade-lined route seemed to be one big, hootin', hollerin', we love you good time. After the parade, when we walked downtown to see the festivities, cause we were so diggin' those tiaras and the queenly high of so many people appreciating us, we were overwhelmed at the amount of women who have always wanted to do what we just did. That was it, we were hooked on parades.

Being how all of us carry little tiny purses, not cause they are fashionable, but because that is how much money we have, we have learned how to build our most wonderful floats on a dime. Wearing a tiara sure brings out the creativity in your head. Why, we think of all kinds of fantastic things, not all of which can be shared. (See "Braggin Rights")

While other Sweet Potato Queen chapters fashion themselves after the Original Sweet Potato Queens®, we care for a more individual look. Battle Ground Sweet Potato Queens love costumes. Public appearances will find us dressed in just about anything, but always with the signature tiara and sunglasses. (See "Live Life Out Loud")

Then there are our dear husbands, male children, and friends who have made all this "It's All About Me" happen. We call them our Spud Studs, as Jill Conner Browne calls the men who do her bidding. Without them, all this glorious Me Me Me production would have made us a one time thing. While no person of the opposite sex is allowed on our floats, they help us build them, truck us all over and through parades, and make sure the little ones along the parade routes get candy so we can focus on ourselves and Makin' You Lovin' Us. Bless their hearts.

In all we are just a bunch of ordinary females who have found the value in celebrating our Inner Divas.