Every year, the Ladies Auxiliary of Montezuma County VFW Post 5231 elects a Mancos Days Pioneer Queen. We have chosen a pioneer queen for over 50 years.
The requirements are as follows: Preference is given to those women born and raised in the Mancos Valley. If the woman is not a native to Mancos, she must have moved here at a young age and then raised a family in the area. The woman must have lived in the area more than 30 years, and she must still live within Montezuma County. We would like to have a woman that is related to a veteran of a foreign war.
This year's choice was born in the Durango Hospital on Dec. 31, 1936, to Vosco and Myrtle Burnham. Her family had been living in Red Mesa but moved to Mancos when she was 6 months old. She was the youngest of seven and has the distinction of being the only child born in a hospital. Myrtle had already given birth to six; Eileen, Billy, Owen, Ben, Ruth, and Gladas. Owen and Ben went on to serve in the military. After an 11-year wait, she then gave birth to this year's queen.
Our Queen this year is the much loved and respected Ellen Paquin.
Paquin says her childhood was very much like all the other children of Mancos at that time - lots of hard work mixed with fun after all the chores and homework was done. It was in these early years that she formed many close friendships that exist today. In high school, Paquin worked at our local movie theater in the concession area. During her junior year, a senior was dared to ask her out on a date (his buddies were all sure she would turn him down). That young man was John Paquin. After graduating Mancos High School, she went to Fort Lewis College, where she was a cheerleader. They dated a couple years and were married Oct. 5, 1956.
For many years, John and Ellen Paquin worked side by side in the drug stores they had in Mancos, Dolores and Cortez. She worked as a soda jerk while raising their two children, Kay and Ronald, who would bless her with five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In 1986, John and Ellen Paquin closed the drug stores and she went to real estate school. After getting her license she worked for many years in the Mancos area selling properties.
The dress that Paquin is wearing this year for the Queen's festivities may be familiar to some of you. In 1966, her mother, Myrtle, was our Mancos Days Pioneer Queen. Paquin has chosen to wear her mother's dress this year.
Once again the Ladies Auxiliary has designed a beautiful quilt to honor our queen and will be raffling it off. The quilt will hang in Mancos Valley Bank until July 24. Tickets are available from the members of the auxiliary or you can check out the Ladies Auxiliary Montezuma County VFW Post 5231 Facebook page for more information on the ticket sales.