Yellowknife (Oct 15/03) - The race for royalty is nearly complete, with a dozen Inuvik boys and girls vying for the title of Delta Daze Prince and Princess.

Event organizer Beth Green of the Inuvik Lions Club said unlike a pageant, the prince and princess are selected based on ticket sales.

"The boys compete against the boys and the girls compete against the girls," Green said. "It's not teams of people, but who ever sells the most tickets."

The prince and princess contestants have their own tickets printed, and the prizes are First Air flights for two to Edmonton, Air North flights to Whitehorse and two tickets to anywhere Aklak Air flies.

The contestants aged three to eight years are also permitted to sell the gold bar tickets, which go towards their totals.

"It's a dollar per point," Green said. "The main objective is to get all the tickets sold."

With the Muskrat Jamboree King and Queen contest, the contestants can hold bake sales and other raffles, but not for Delta Daze.

The prince and princess contestants can hold special events or luncheons to encourage ticket sales, but the sales are for tickets, not for the food.

"They're not buying soup and bannock, they're buying prince and princess tickets or gold bar tickets and getting a reward for buying your tickets," Green explains.

The money, combined with other proceeds from Delta Daze go into the Lions' fundraising pool for the community.

Green said the Lions purchase hearing aids and other items for the elderly, fund sport events and computers with a focus primarily on youth-based initiatives.

"Delta Daze is one of our major fundraisers of the year," she said. "All of the proceeds from this event and all of our other events go right back into the community."