After the home she had lived in in Kent for 70 years burned down 10 years ago, Rose Wiemes moved to Auburn.

It didn’t take long for Wiemes to fall in love with her new city.

“I love everything about Auburn,” Wiemes said last Thursday.

She means it.

Wiemes made the comment on the night Auburn embraced her in turn, crowning her the 2014-2015 Queen of Auburn Days in a ceremony at the Auburn Senior Activity Center.

Wiemes’ two rivals for the throne, Ethel Craven-Sweet and Leola Beers, will serve as her court. As queen, Wiemes job is to promote the Aug. 8-10 Auburn Days Festival and the city by riding in area parades this summer.

Outgoing queen Marge Gordon placed the tiara on Wiemes’ head.

Was it tough for Gordon to give up all that regal prestige?

“Naw,” she laughed, “one year of glory” and of loyal and loving subjects fawning all over her and throwing their jackets over puddles for her to cross was enough.

“Besides, everybody who’s been governor is still called the governor, so you can still address me as ‘your highness’ if you want to,” Gordon said. “Works for me.”

The competition was fierce.

“Oh, it was a tough one,” Wiemes said with a chuckle. “But the two who were with me were as deserving as I was.”

The Jamestown, N.D., native moved to Washington with her family when she was a child and lived on Kent’s East Hill for many years where she and her late husband raised two children.

She worked at the Hyatt House for 20 years and earned her associate degree from Green River Community College. Before her retirement, Wiemes worked for the housing department of the Veterans Administration.

“We brought veterans in from all around the world for their bone marrow treatments and their cancer treatments and things like that,” Wiemes said.

Candidates for queen must be 75 years of age or older, live in the city and have contributed their time for the betterment of the community.