INDIANAPOLIS — Being a 500 Festival Princess is a little different this year because of the current coronavirus pandemic.
13Sunrise feature reporter Carlos Diaz spoke with three of this year’s 500 Festival Princesses, including this year’s queen, Greenwood resident and Roncalli grad Kathleen Soller.
“I know times are tough right now, but I encourage everyone to stay positive and optimistic,” Soller said. “Also be safe, so please wear your mask.”
Some of these young women have dreamed their entire lives about becoming a 500 Festival Princess and now, most of their in-person appearances have been transformed into virtual appearances via Zoom, Skype or FaceTime.
When they are allowed to visit a location in person, the princesses must wear masks and observe social distancing, which seems to be the game plan for race day on Aug. 23.
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“We know for sure if we're going to the race, we have to wear a mask, but we don't know what IMS is going to allow us to do because they do want to remind us about social distancing as much as possible,” said Emma Kate McMurty, a 500 Festival Princess from Terre Haute. “So we're kind of just rolling with the flow and being positive about it.”
Some princesses won’t be able to attend this year’s Indy 500 because they have to head back to college out of state.
“I have plans to move to Portland, Oregon,” said Indiana State grad Tracy Ortiz. “I'm taking what I like to call 'a granola year,' so I won't be at the 500.”
This year’s 500 Festival Queen has an amazingly courageous personal story: Just a few years ago, she was a Make-A-Wish kid.
“I had a life-threatening illness. I had cancer in high school,” Soller said. “Now, I'm a trained wish granter with Make-A-Wish. I'm starting to give back to the organization with everything going virtual with the 500 Festival. We had the opportunity to help some of the Make-A-Wish kids who are still waiting for their wishes. Because travel is not allowed right now, they're not allowed to do any sort of travel wishes.”
Shifting gears, the big question everyone wants to know: Is this year’s 500 Festival Queen going to kiss the cheek of the Indy 500 winner in this world of social distancing?
“Due to COVID concerns, we're not going to be doing that this year,” Soller said about the post-race kiss. “People actually have a misconception about that tradition. The queen is not actually required to kiss the driver on the cheek. In some past years, it hasn't happened, so this year, I will not be doing that. But we're trying to come up with some different ways that we can kind of celebrate and uphold a tradition — maybe a fist bump!”