At 6:32 p.m. on May 30, Arts Project of Cherry Grove (APCG) President Panzi, Homecoming Queen 1976 and 1977, announced, in an email to the APCG membership, that the Cherry Grove Homecoming Queen 2021 contest—held virtually, hosted by Panzi, and streamed in a video made by Ray Bagnuolo at the Grove Community House—“wiener is (I mean winner) Davida,” on her third try (indeed the charm) for the title and in her fifth season here. Davida becomes the Grove’s 46th Queen.
For her winning number, Davida sang both Christine and Raoul’s part in “Think of Me,” from “The Phantom of the Opera,” dulcetly and with a flashy finale. Panzi asked her what, as Queen, she would do about the piping plovers, as they both puzzled over what exactly a piping plover is (it’s an endangered shorebird). Davida reassured us that she had gotten the “Madonna” vaccine against Covid-19.
In the contest, Davida faced newcomer Chola, who, as Liza Minnelli, did “Yes,” from “Liza with a Z,” and said she wanted to be Queen to introduce herself to Cherry Grove and to meet everyone here. In her emailed announcement, Panzi sent “special thanks to Chola, who is not only a good sport, a great performer, but a welcome addition to the Cherry Grove family.”
Davida succeeds Ikea as Queen. For her stepdown number, backed by the faithful Lute and Fisk, Ikea repeated their hit, “The Fish Head Song,” before she addressed her subjects, for the last time as Queen, and mounted her pyre, a burning Viking ship, and set off for Valhalla. We were shown a slideshow of highlights from her year as Queen, a difficult one, also marked as the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and she, like Davida, was one of the Covid Destroyers, who would meet the ferries with giveaways of hand sanitizer and masks. There were praises for Ikea and wishes for luck to the new Queen from past Queens Ariel Sinclair, HQ 2002; Victoria Falls, HQ 2019; Ginger Snap, HQ 2017—still waiting for promised shelves from Ikea—and Whore D’oeuvre, HQ 2014.
Congratulations to Davida and best wishes for a successful reign!