Their royal highnesses, the 2026 King and Queen of Edisonia Kyle Timothy Keene and Mandy Christine Wiltshire. -COURTESY PHOTO
One of the busiest weekends of the Fort Myers social season has come to an end – and, oh, what a spectacular weekend it was!
The Edison Pageant of Light has been a part of Thomas Edison’s community birthday celebration since the first coronation Ball in 1938 when James E. Hendry and Virginia Sheppard Holloway were crowned King and Queen of the mythical realm of Edisonia – and other than the years during World War II when our local boys were off defending the country – this ceremony, dinner, and dance has been happening each year with lots of pomp and circumstance and a heavy dose of irrepressible sparkle.
Glitz and glamour
The theme for the coronation ball at Marriott Sanibel Harbour Resort this year was glitz and glamour, which assured that so many of the guests looked like they would be right at home on a Hollywood red carpet. They honored the 2024 monarchs, Queen Ainsley Frances Thomas and King Daniel Franklin Adams, two very accomplished young people – Thomas is a medical professional at Golisano Children’s Hospital, while Adams is interested in pursuing a career in sales – both of these royals have a love for animals and lend their time and talents to Gulf Coast Humane Society.
During the ceremony, Danny and Ainsley transferred their thrones, scepters, velvet robes and glittering crowns to the new monarchs Queen Mandy Christine Wiltshire and King Kyle Timothy Keene. Wiltshire attends FSU, majoring in biochemistry, and comes from a long line of Edisonia royalty on both sides of her family (her parents were King and Queen in the 80s, plus she has family members dating back to the 1950s who have served). Meanwhile, Queen Wiltshire has always worked alongside her mother, Mary Chris Sanders and her late grandmother, the legendary Erleene Sanders, on the pageant since she was just a little girl. King Keene’s mother, Jennifer Hussey Keene, served as Queen in 1983, and his grandfather, Jerry D. Hussey, was president of the pageant back in the day. The newly crowned king has been involved in Edisonia since he was a youngster and is currently studying science and engineering at the University of Florida. All hail these lovely, accomplished young monarchs!
Festive subjects, fabulous gowns
The loyal subjects of Edisonia had a wonderful time mingling, telling old stories, reuniting with friends, and of course, dancing. There was Matt Roepstorff with his beautiful wife Mairin who wore a midnight blue gown with an attached full-length cape giving her a Princess Kate vibe. 1988 Queen Susan Smoot Mertz wore a sleeveless black gown with a beaded Art Deco design at the decolletage and happily posed for photos with her handsome dad, 1957 King J. Thomas Smoot, Jr. The grandmother of Queen Ainsley, Fran Fenning, looked stunning in a black gown, complete with a scene-stealing, artistic pearl-and-gold necklace. The always glitzy and glamorous 1990 Queen, Dewey Sanders, had all eyes upon her as she rocked a 1930s-inspired black beaded gown with an open back. The father of Queen Mandy and 1988 King, Bill Wiltshire, was accompanied by Gina Sabiston, who wore a fabulous gold-embroidered gown with gold accessories.
Everyone loves a parade!
As it is every year, the pageant was magical — as was the very next evening when I got to attend Cole and Rachel Peacock’s 33rd annual Edison Festival of Light parade party at Lions Park. The weather was perfect and the company was warm and fun as we enjoyed the floats, the marching bands, the dancers and so much more. We ran into Kinfay Moroti and his teenage daughter Emarie running the pre-parade 5K, Maria Paterno and Michael Stipac joined us, along with Dustin Peacock, Sadie German and Victor Muriel and plenty of other parade lovers.
Fort Myers loves celebrating Mr. Edison and I can’t wait for next year!
Stephanie Davis is a recovering girl-about-town formerly known as the Downtown Diva. A nearly native Southwest Floridian, when she’s not photographing events for Florida Weekly, she’s perfectly content to stay at home binging Netflix with her husband and three cats, Tennessee, Lilibet, and Jack.