By SARA MILLER

Kitsap News Group

This year’s Fathoms O’ Fun royalty court pageant Saturday, March 4 is “I’ve Got the Magic in Me.”

The event at Christian Life Center, set to start at 4 p.m., will be celebrated in honor of Jessie Turner, a long-time Fathoms volunteer who passed away Feb. 21.

The annual community festival kicked off its season by hosting a spaghetti feed fundraiser and its royal tea Jan. 29, where this year’s contestants were introduced.

“The big changes this year are that Gig Harbor students can also participate,” coordinator Helene Johnson said. “They don’t have any program like this, and it’s great they now have the opportunity to serve and be a part of what we have here.

“The other change is we have adjusted the age bracket with the grade reconfiguration. So students from grades 6-8 will compete in the junior category. Contestants from grade 9 through 20 years of age compete in the senior category.”

The program is also being streamed this year for the first time ever through Christian Life Center’s website: www.clcpo.org/watch.

The 2017 Fathoms O’ Fun royalty court contestants are:

Contestant 1: Jaycee Baumer

Platform: Human Trafficking

Contestant 2: Mackenzie Wright

Platform: Veterans with PTSD

Contestant 3: Hannah Hawkins

Platform: Funding of Band vs. Athletics

Contestant 4: Cory Miller

Platform: Rescue Every Dog (R.E.D)

Contestant 5: Madison Saling

Platform: Having a Positive Mind Improves Peoples Lives

Contestant 6: Anastasiya Siliverstova

Platform: Animals in Captivity

Contestant 7: Jamison Folden

Platform: Washington’s education

Contestant 8: Alainna Widdifield

Platform: Coral Reefs and How We Affect the Ocean

Contestant 9: Veronica Mihai

Platform: Inspiring girls to be confident, bold and strong.

Contestant 10: Hailey Chambard

Platform: Homelessness

Contestant 11: J’Elaine Wall

Platform: Bullying

Contestant 12: Danyelle Wilcox

Platform: Autism Spectrum Disorder

The Fathoms O’ Fun Festival is a community service organization, carrying on a tradition that has been around in Port Orchard for 50 years.​

It is operated entirely by community volunteers. It provides a variety of family activities throughout the year including the Grand Parade, festival activities, scholarship pageant, summer concerts, a craft and vendor show, a street fair, children’s events and an award-winning community festival float, which appears in parades throughout the state and beyond.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students.