Chelsea Boyles to reign as WVIHF's Regina Maria XXXVII

Boyles, 23, will be getting her wish when she is crowned Regina Maria XXXVII during the festival, which will be held Sept. 4 through 6 on Labor Day Weekend in downtown Clarksburg.

Her coronation will take place on the first day of the festival in front of the Harrison County Courthouse.

The announcement that Boyles will be the next queen, succeeding Regina Maria XXXVI Kasandra Ruscitto of Parkersburg, was made Saturday at the festival’s Spring Gala, held at the Village Square Conference Center in Clarksburg.

“I’m so excited,” Boyles said Saturday morning in a telephone interview. “It’s a huge honor. I’m excited to represent all the Italian-American West Virginians. I plan to attend as many events as I can. It’s always been so important to me to keep these Italian traditions alive.”

At the gala, the incoming queen, wearing a red gown, traditionally receives a gold medallion from the reigning queen, dressed in green.

“I really enjoyed representing the Italian culture in West Virginia and celebrating with so many friends and family,” said Ruscitto just before the gala began.

She will retain her crown until the upcoming festival.

Boyles’ great-great-grandparents were Salvatore and Julia Varca Oliveto, who came from San Giovanni in Fiore in Calabria, Italy. Their marriage was arranged and they settled in Lumberport and had 14 children. Their oldest daughter, Mary, was Boyles’ great-grandmother, and her daughter, Judy Boyles, is her grandmother. Her parents are Bill and Jackie Boyles and her grandfather is also named Bill Boyles.

“Family has always been extremely important to me, and the whole entire family, we do everything together,” Boyles said. “Holidays are huge. For Christmas Eve, we do the fish, and every Sunday we have a huge pasta dinner.

“Most importantly, we’re keeping traditions alive. Even though my great-great-grandmother and great-grandmother are not still with me, we try to keep the Italian traditions alive.”

Julia Oliveto died when Boyles was a young baby but she has a photo of her great-great-grandmother holding her, she added.

A 2009 graduate of Lincoln High School, where she was in the top 25 of her class, Boyles was active in Key Club, student council, National Honor Society, and was a four-year member of the band.

She was a three-time Class AA high school state cheer champion and finished as a runner-up her senior year. She also competed in the state high school swim meet. She was awarded an Italian Heritage Festival Scholarship her senior year.

Boyles majored in elementary education at Fairmont State University, graduating in December 2013. A contract worker for HQ Aero, she is employed as a project cost analyst for Pratt & Whitney.

However, Boyles’ big career dream is to be a country singer.

“My dad started to sing to me when I was as young as 3, and it started from there,” she said. “I would start singing on the side porch in Shinnston and neighbors would cheer me on. That’s where it all started.”

On her 12th birthday, her parents took Boyles to Morgantown to record her first CD.

“I told them that is what I would like to do as a career.”

She has sung the National Anthem at local sporting events, including several West Virginia University home games. One of those times was when basketball great Jerry West’s jersey was retired in front of a sold out crowd of more than 14,000 people. She also has performed at the Wilson County Fair in Nashville.

A year ago, she traveled to Nashville and made an album, “Edge,” at The Tracking Room, a recording studio in the Music City, with producer Dan Mitchell.

“So right now, the goal is to get as much exposure as I possibly can. I’m trying to get a single pitched to radio.”

Boyles does not know how much singing she will get to do as Regina Maria XXXVII, but she did perform “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert at Saturday’s gala in honor of the event’s theme, “An Italian Family Celebration.”

“It goes along with the theme of being close to family and remembering where you came from,” she added.

Speaking of family, Boyles has two sisters, Chloe, 22, and Chesnea, 7, both of whom will be on the queen’s court, with Chloe serving as maid of honor on the senior court while Chesnea will be on the minor court.

Boyles’ memories of attending the festival include watching Smith sing and watching members of the Ramona Rose School of Performing Arts dance. She took lessons at Ramona Rose from ages 4 to 14 and also studied voice under Ann Schooley at Fairmont State. She took guitar lessons from John Vaughn.

“Every single year, my family has gone,” she said. “We’ve been going for years, not only for the food and entertainment, but also just to celebrate being Italian-American and keeping all those traditions alive.”

Eventually, Boyles hopes to move to Nashville and make a go of a singing career, and it inspires her that one of her favorite singers is Jo Dee Messina, who appeared at the festival in 2013.

But no matter what, she will remember her Italian and West Virginia roots.

“I’m blessed to say I’m Italian-American. It taught me my beliefs and values. I would not be the person I am today without learning all those things at such a young age.”