Litchfield Watercade Royalty Had a Busy Year

The 2025-26 Litchfield Watercade Royalty has one more week to reign before crowning a new group to represent the community. The 70th annual Litchfield Watercade celebration will conclude on Sunday with the coronation at 3 p.m. in the Bernie Aaker Auditorium.

2025-26 Miss Litchfield Brooke Caron is sponsored by the Lehr Agency and has been attending the College of St. Benedict where she is majoring in strategic communication. She says she and princesses Raigan Miller and Katelyn Guggemos have attended numerous parades and coronations in other communities throughout the past year, have attended some special sporting events in the Twin Cities and hosted a daddy/daughter fundraising event. Caron says one of the favorite activities was being in the Anoka Halloween parade where each of them dressed up on the Litchfield Watercade float as a different character from “The Wizard of Oz.” She says her advice to this year’s Miss Litchfield candidates is to just take it all in.

Caron says she will be attending the Minneapolis Aquatennial later this month and competing in the Queen of the Lakes pageant. The reigning Queen of the Lakes – 2024-25 Miss Litchfield Addie Lundin – will present a special invitation to Brooke Caron during the Watercade coronation on Sunday afternoon.

Princess Raigan Miller is sponsored by Miller Automotive and she will be continuing her military training later this summer. Princess Katelyn Guggemos is sponsored by Towmaster and she will be attending Northwestern University in St. Paul to major in elementary education. Guggemos says her advice to this year’s candidates is to be genuine.

Junior princess Brooks Nelson is sponsored by 201 Building Supply. She will be going into the 5th grade. Brooks says her advice to the junior royalty candidates is to smile and have fun. She says it was very shocking for her when she was crowned last year.

Nelson says she will definitely run for Miss Litchfield in a few years. Junior princess Hazel Menken, who is sponsored by Litchfield Licensing, says she would consider running for Miss Litchfield someday, if she is still living in Litchfield. The 5th grader says when it was announced that she was a junior princess last summer, she felt confused as to what was happening.

Menken says the junior royalty candidates have to keep in mind that not everyone is going to win. The junior coronation will be on Sunday at 12:30 in the Bernie Aaker Auditorium. For more Watercade information, go to watercade.com.