There she is: In a flowing green cape and sparkling tiara, the Queen Colleen of today’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
She reigns benignly over the merry event and for the rest of the year serves as an ambassador for the Irish community.
Debbie Wein recalls the experience fondly.
“It’s something that I’ll always treasure,” says Wein, Denver’s first Queen Colleen in 1971. “I was made to feel so special and I met so many wonderful people.”
Wein will join 12 of her fellow former Colleens today for a walk in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“It’s quite an honor,” she says.
Linda Foley, a member of the parade’s Queen Colleen subcommittee, started the search for former queens in September, after the 2009 Queen Colleen contest was rescheduled. There has traditionally been a pre-parade pageant and coronation ball in February, but this year they are moving to the fall.
“When we realized there wasn’t going to be a pageant and ball, . . . we wanted to come up with something to replace (them),” Foley says.
The committee asked the 2008 Queen Colleen, Kelly Kretschmar, to stay on for another year and decided for the first time to feature former queens in the annual parade.
Foley started digging through the records and even hired a private investigator to track down far-flung Colleens.
“Without (the investigator’s) help, we wouldn’t have found these gals,” Foley says.
For her part, Kretschmar didn’t mind the request to stay on another year as Queen Colleen.
“I was ecstatic when they asked and, quite frankly, honored,” says Kretschmar, a junior at Metropolitan State College of Denver.
Last year, she was inspired to run for Queen Colleen by her parents, who are members of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee.
“I really enjoyed the committee and the people,” says Kretschmar. “I thought it’d be a great opportunity to represent them by running.”
Back in 1971, Wein — whose last name then was Dorrough — decided to run after talking to an involved friend about the pageant and the parade.
“It was kind of a lark,” says Wein, adding that her year as Queen Colleen was a busy one. She was a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder while tending to her Queen Colleen duties.
“The Vietnam War was going on, and kids were protesting in Boulder,” she says. “It was . . . unusual.”
Wein went on to become Miss University of Colorado and a librarian in Cherry Creek Schools, a job she held for 18 years. Now semi-retired, she says the Queen Colleen pageant gave her poise and professionalism for years afterward.
“It boosted my self-confidence, which has helped me throughout my life,” Wein says.
She will gather with the other former Queen Colleens and Kretschmar for a celebratory breakfast before today’s parade. Then she’ll join the march — as queen for a day.
“Once a Queen Colleen,” Foley says, “you’re always a Queen Colleen.”
The 47th Annual Denver St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Today. 10 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. The parade route starts at 27th Street and Blake Street, continues down Blake to 17th Street and finishes north of Coors Field via Wynkoop and Wewatta streets. Free. The parade committee is looking for more former Queen Colleens and pre-1971 “Queens of the Emerald Isle” for future parades. For more information, go to .
