The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Another look back in The Reminder archives for a royal connection. This article was first published in October 2002. * * * Four local girls got the chance of a lifetime Tuesday when they had a brush with Royalty in Winnipeg. Members of the Nemihitowok Hoop Dancers performed for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip during Her Majesty's visit to the Manitoba capital. After their dance, three of the girls were awestruck when the Queen approached them to have a few words. 'It was awesome,' smiled Danielle Kryschuk, 14, who shook Her Majesty's hand. 'I couldn't stop smiling after. I was really shocked and I couldn't stop talking about the Queen Ñ still can't.' Denee Church, 15, said talking to the Queen is now tops her list of most exciting experiences. 'I don't think anything will be any better,' she smiled. Cailie Church, 8, was just as thrilled. So thrilled in fact that she can't remember just what the Queen said to her 'because I was so excited and I was cold.' While Dayle Leclaire-Nivon, 7, didn't get the chance to speak with England's Sovereign, she did see her. 'I saw the Queen,' she proudly smiled. 'I thought it was awesome.' Unlike her fellow dancers, young Dayle also got the chance to talk with Prince Phillip. 'He asked me how I made the ball (of hoops) and I just shook my shoulders and said, 'Easy,'' she said. 'I didn't know who he was. My mom told me. She was surprised that I talked to the Prince, she was really happy.' The girls' Royal encounter began with Danielle, who remembered the Queen walking toward her after the hoop dancers had completed their routine. 'She asked me, 'How many hoops do you use?'' recalled Danielle. 'I told her '21.'' Her Majesty then asked Denee how she used her hoops to make a ball to display to the crowd. 'She said it was marvelous,' said Denee. Even though there were some 55,000 people at The Forks that day, about 4,000 of whom were watching the hoop dancers, Danielle and Denee were focused on their most famous spectator. 'I didn't even notice the big crowd, I was too busy paying attention to the Queen,' said Danielle. 'Same here,' added Denee. 'We've performed for big crowds before, that wasn't the big deal Ñ it was the Queen. We were nervous we'd mess up in front of her.' Danielle and Denee, both Hapnot Collegiate students, commented that Her Majesty looks younger in person than she does on TV or in the news media. 'She looks shorter, too,' said Denee. The girls became minor celebrities at The Forks after speaking with the Queen. The Winnipeg Free Press as well as an England newspaper interviewed Danielle and Denee after the encounter, while the Winnipeg Sun featured a photo of the pair in conversation with the Queen. See 'CTV...' on pg. 15 Continued from pg. 14 A CTV camera operator also captured the brief dialogue and aired it across Manitoba. Some other stations across Canada picked up the footage as well. The girls have received quite a response from family and friends since arriving back home on Wednesday. 'Everyone kept asking me, 'How was the Queen? Was she nice? Did she say hi to you?' laughed Denee. 'And I was like, 'Wow, a lot of people know about it.'' Denee said one of her teachers cried after hearing her the story because she was so happy for her student. Danielle said her friends at school were eager to hear all of the details and see all of the photos she had. A friend of Danielle's also reminded the teen of an ironic childhood experience. 'She said, 'Remember when you were little and you always said you wanted to have tea and talk with the Queen? Well, you got to talk to her,'' laughed Danielle. The girls' once-in-a-lifetime performance started out as a distant hope in November of 2001, when the Nemihitowok Hoop Dancers applied to perform during the Royal Winnipeg visit. 'I had actually given up hope that we would be called because we had been in contact with the province for a number of months waiting to hear a definite answer,' said Edna Smith, a parent representative. 'So when I got the call that we were invited, I was both shocked and elated.' Denee had a similar responses. 'I was like, 'No way!'' she expressed.
