The 2023 Mancos Days Queen has been selected, and this year the Montezuma County VFW Auxiliary No. 5231 has announced Clara McNeil as the queen.
The Queen’s Tea will be held July 28 at 1 p.m. at the Mancos Community Center on Grand Avenue, a news release said Monday.
This year’s Queen Quilt is on display at the Dolores State Bank in Mancos. Raffle tickets for the quilt are on sale for $1 each or six tickets for $5. Tickets can be purchased at the bank from Brandi Goff, from any of the VFW Auxiliary members, or by calling (970) 749-9320.
The quilt is made by the VFW Auxiliary members, Mancos Mayor Queenie Barz said. They make a new quilt each year, each time adding the newest queen to the middle while representing all past queens.
The Mancos Days Queen tradition began in 1961, Barz said. One year, they had twin sisters as Mancos Days Queens.
McNeil will ride in the parade with her family members and previous Mancos Days queens on Saturday, July 30.
Barz also told a Journal reporter about the criteria for being selected as the Mancos Days Queen.
“They have to have lived in Mancos for at least 50 years, be active in the community, and be voted on by the VFW,” Barz said. The VFW looks for candidates with a veteran family member, but that is not a requirement for the position.
In a letter sent to The Journal by Barz, the newly selected Mancos Days queen detailed her life leading up to her royal reign. McNeil moved to Mancos in 1965 after marrying Lloyd McNeil. She was born to a family of 12 from Snowflake, Arizona. She was the sixth of 10 children, and the age gaps resulted in her growing up as a loner within the family. She made plenty of friends through 4-H, sports, school, and church as a child.
She attended Brigham Young University in Utah for three years, majoring in physical education, before leaving the university and moving to Mancos with her husband. She raised nine children in Mancos, and now has 34 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She plans to make a quilt for each one for their high school graduation.
McNeil owned and operated the Mancos Laundromat with her husband for seven years. She spoke of her many friends over the years, some of whom are now gone. “I cherish my association with each of them,” McNeil said.
She also worked as the building custodian for her church, and the site coordinator and cook for senior members of Mancos. She also spent time as the advancement chairman for two Boy Scouts troops.
She volunteered as the reservation clerk for the Jersey Jim Foundation until she went on an 18-month mission in Illinois for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“I returned home to serve a one-year genealogy mission, working from home on the computer,” McNeil said in her letter. “It has been a great blessing for me to have had the experiences of serving in the leadership as well as teaching positions in the children’s organization in my church.”
McNeil also served in leadership and teaching positions for a couple of women’s organizations in Mancos. She also played organ and piano on and off in church for 58 years. She feels honored to have been chosen by the VFW Auxiliary for this position, and looks forward to meeting new people through this exciting opportunity.
“I am honored to represent Mancos pioneers and their posterity as well as all newcomers. I’ll do my best.”
