(Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a special five-part series.)
Urbanna Oyster Festival Queen contestant, Gracie Wynberry, and her Little Miss Spat co-contestant, Finley Welch, have worked together to spread awareness and raise money for grieving children. Gracie lost her father when she was 7 years old, only a year after she was a spat contestant.
“I have known I wanted to do this project as an Oyster Festival Queen Contestant for years, and seeing it finally come to life has truly been incredible,” she said.
Right away, Finley was all on board to help Gracie with the cause, and they worked together throughout the summer with the goal of raising awareness and funds to help grieving children in Middlesex County and beyond. “Knowing the hurt these kids are feeling on a personal level is really what encouraged me to try to make a difference. Kids in this situation feel alone and they feel they are the only ones going through this pain and grief. Our goal was to let them know they are not alone,” said Gracie.
The overall project had two parts: fundraising for Comfort Zone Camp and The Legacy of Love Scholarship.
For one part of their project, Gracie and Finley teamed up with Comfort Zone Camp, a camp for children who have lost a parent, guardian, or caregiver. Gracie will be attending the camp a fourth time in September of this year. This camp has one mission: to make sure grieving children know they are not alone.
“Until I went to this camp with my brother less than a year after my father had passed, I felt like the only person in the world who understood me was my brother, but boy was I wrong,” Gracie said. Gracie had found that so many other children there at camp knew how she felt, and she learned that she really was not alone. This feeling of belonging and comfort was a major contribution to her healing and working through the grief process.
Gracie knew she wanted to give back to this camp through her Urbanna Oyster Festival community service project.
Over the summer Gracie and Finley hosted a barbecue dinner with a bake sale and a 50/50 raffle, as well as two more bake sales. The dinner was named the “Legacy of Love BBQ Dinner.” All of the proceeds of the dinner tickets went to the Legacy of Love Scholarship, the second part of the project, created by Gracie and Finley. In order to apply for the scholarship, students must be a current senior in high school who have lost a loved one. To be considered for the scholarship, they must write a short essay about one of the two prompts: how they have overcome their grief or how the loved one they have lost inspired them to be the person they are today. Gracie created the scholarship in honor of her father to raise awareness in the local community for grieving children and providing youngsters a chance to share their story of a loved one as a way to honor their legacy.
The earnings from the barbecue dinner, bake sale, 50/50 raffle, and two other bake sales all went towards an online fundraiser created by Gracie and Finley for Comfort Zone Camp. The fundraiser was also shared through multiple social media platforms to enable people to donate their own share towards the cause.
“We had brochures of all sorts and lots of information about Comfort Zone Camp at all of our events because we wanted to raise awareness since not many people know about it,” said Gracie.
Gracie and Finley ended their project with $1,000 towards the Legacy of Love Scholarship and $4,038 towards Comfort Zone Camp.
During Gracie’s Middlesex High School career, she has received honor roll recognition multiple times. She has also received the “Important People in History” essay honorable mention award. She has played her part by being class secretary during sophomore and junior years. She has also been a part of the yearbook committee all four years of high school, stepping up to be co-editor during junior year and now the lead editor during senior year. She is an active member of the National Honor Society (NHS) and plans on running for NHS president this year. Gracie is a certified lifeguard and has worked at The Pilot House, the Ricky Taylor Memorial Community Swimming Pool, Grey’s Point Campground and the Northern Neck YMCA in Kilmarnock throughout high school.
Gracie has played volleyball since she was in seventh grade and has also helped coach the local YMCA team. She has played softball and baseball since she was 3 years old, and she has been on the varsity softball team at Middlesex since her freshman year. Gracie has swam with the Deltaville Sharks swim team since she was 3. She has helped out with teaching the kickboarders for the past few years.
After graduation, Gracie plans to pursue a career in interior design. Next year, she will attend Christopher Newport University majoring in design and minoring in either business or entrepreneurship. She plans to continue her educational career through Virginia Commonwealth University to receive her master’s degree in interior design.
Gracie is the daughter of Jamie and Keith Sears and the late Robert Wynberry. She is the granddaughter of James and Anne Douglas, Gail and Tim Spencer, Robert and Tracy Sears, and Robert Wynberry. She has a twin brother, Owen Wynberry.
Gracie’s Little Miss Spat co-contestant, Finley Welch, is a first-grade student at Middlesex Elementary School. She is the daughter of Melissa and Brent Welch. She is the granddaughter of J.D. and Mary Ann Davis, Chrystal Welch, and Larry Welch. She has one brother, Parker.
Finley enjoys going to the beach, playing outside, and eating lots of ice cream.
The 2022 Queen and Little Miss Spat will be crowned on Friday, Nov. 4, at the Urbanna firehouse at 4 p.m.
