70 years later: Tiara tradition weaves past and present of Swamp Buggy Parades in Naples

Since 1950, these women have brought poise and glamour to the muddy sport of swamp buggy racing.

They wear pageant-style dresses and get their hair done up. Earn a crown. Carry on a time-honored tradition. And — what could arguably be considered the most fun part — take a celebratory plunge with the newly crowned Budweiser Cup Champion. 

These women are Swamp Buggy Queens. And since 1950, almost 70 ladies have been crowned as such. 

The swamp buggy races began in 1949 east of Naples. However, the first queen wasn't crowned until a year later. 

Joan Ozier was the first. She set the precedent for all other queens to follow.

In honor of past queens, Saturday's swamp buggy parade, which kicked off the 70th year of the races, featured a handful of these ladies.

More on race season:Swamp Buggy Races kick off 70th season this weekend with return of Fall Classic

'I was so young and it was such an honor' — 1966 Swamp Buggy Queen

Dolly Scott, 83, was all smiles riding in the back of a convertible during Saturday's parade on U.S. 41 South in Naples. She got to relive 1966, the year she was named swamp buggy queen. 

"I look back on it now and it's just so much more meaningful," Scott said.

Current queen Erica Flesher, 23, sat at the back of another convertible moving ahead of Scott’s. For the past four years, she has served as queen after winning the event's scholarship pageant. Typically, a queen serves for one year, but the pageant competition hasn’t taken place since Flesher, a fourth-grade teacher from Naples, won the crown. She hopes to pass the title to a new queen next year. 

“As a queen for this long, I’ve been able to serve my community, promote the races and get involved in local events,” she said. 

A few queens took part in the parade, most of them wearing their crowns and sashes. They threw candy to spectators, including wooden coins, which grant access to this weekend’s races at Florida Sports Park east of Naples. 

The tradition of crowning a queen has changed over the decades. 

Among a group of women, Scott became queen in 1966 after earning the popular vote. Voters purchased votes for 10 cents each. 

She didn't initially want to run for the title. "I was so busy," Scott said. Then, the mother of four had her hands full at home and work. She assisted her husband, Fred, in his local business. Today, she still keeps busy, running Dolly's Produce Patch and Eatery in Bonita Springs. 

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She had no idea her choice to run for queen would make her a local celebrity. 

"I remember going into a grocery store and someone said, 'There she goes, our queen,'" Scott said, laughing. 

The Minnesota native moved to Southwest Florida with her family in the 1950s.

In 1966, Naples was still a small, rural town, and almost everyone knew each other. Downtown businesses closed shop for the swamp buggy parade. 

Although it was more than 50 years ago, Scott remembers almost everything about the day of the parade. 

She wore a blue pioneer-style dress, which she still has at home, along with a bonnet-style hat and decorative umbrella. She rode at the back of a convertible and waved hello to spectators as she passed them.

After the parade, Scott recalled a dance put on by event organizers. 

Scott served as queen for a year. As queen, Scott attended social events and participated in community projects.

Today's queen is expected to do community service, learn about the history of Southwest Florida and help raise money for local nonprofit organizations. 

Although some things may have changed since 1966, the role of swamp buggy queen was and is a cherished one, Scott said. 

"It was such an honor."

Parade has evolved over the decades

Naples hosted its first official Swamp Buggy Parade in 1949. Then, Cambier Park was the center of all the action. It was where skeet shooting and shotgun competitions were held. Merchants donated plump turkeys as prizes. Local organizations hosted a picnic lunch and fish fry.

And according to a 60th anniversary parade booklet, 4,000 spectators lined the streets of downtown Naples to watch the parade go by. Today, the annual event draws about 5,000 people. 

The parade has been canceled only three times over its decades-long run and typically serves as a kickoff event for the races. 

Saturday's parade featured the Naples High School marching band, dozens of swamp buggies, and Swampy, the costumed alligator that is the races' mascot.

According to Collier County Museums, swamp buggy racing grew in popularity in Collier County after World War II, when airplane and tractor tires became available.

The traditional racing season was created in 1949 to mirror the hunting season.

Back then, hunters would build swamp buggies to go hunting in the Everglades. They would show off their work as they left town every November for the swamp, which inspired the annual parade.

Parade's grand marshal 

Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk was sworn in as a Naples police officer 40 years ago. 

His first assignment was to work traffic control at the swamp buggy parade. He was quickly issued a uniform and radio I.D. number and was assigned a post along U.S. 41.

Rambosk, originally from New Jersey, didn't even know what a swamp buggy was before the event. 

"I remember first hearing this loud roar of engines. It was so loud you almost had to cover your ears," he recalled. "And then I saw them. The swamp buggies looked like sleds on wheels ... and they had this tremendous amount of power."

Throughout the past 40 years, Rambosk has been involved with the parade in some way, either as a police officer or Naples city manager.

This year, the sheriff is the parade’s grand marshal and waved the flags to signal the start of the Swamp Buggy Races this weekend.

The parade, pageant and races are important parts of Naples history, Rambosk said. 

"The parade has always been the rallying point for the entire community to support the racers" and the community, he said. 

Naples Daily News reporter Adam Fisher contributed to this story.