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Local royals helping make wish come true

A princess party to benefit an all-abilities park on White Rock's waterfront raised more than $11,000.
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Grace Whittome

It was a fairy-tale ending for Myra Merkel’s third annual princess party.

The Saturday afternoon soirée, which aims to raise funds for an all-abilities park on White Rock’s waterfront, brought 178 of the Peninsula’s youngest royals together to meet with a fairy godmother, play games and visit with Snow White.

Merkel, who organized the event held at Star of the Sea Community Centre, said the party raised $11,787 for the park – a dream of her son, Evan Bird, a White Rock firefighter.

“Every penny we made was wonderful. We’re so grateful,” she said Monday. “Before the second (Peace Arch News) article came out, we only had 122 girls, and then every day after it was like, boom, more and more registered.”

For Merkel, the party was a way to make each person in attendance feel like royalty – no matter what their age.

“The great part about this event is that the volunteers had fun, too. We’re bringing that belief of magic and miracles, not only to little princesses, but to big ones, like the mothers and the volunteers,” Merkel said. “All of them were reliving their childhood.”

As for next year’s event, the White Rock grandmother said she already had volunteers wanting to sign up.

“I’ve already received calls and letters asking to help out next time,” she said. “I’ve got a good head start.”

For more information, go to www.wrprincessparty.com