The Florida Strawberry Festival Junior Royalty Pageant spent the last several decades training generations of young girls to be exemplary citizens.
Kay Newsome Varnum and her sister, Dee Parker, have been involved with the pageant since its creation in 1977. Parker was Little Miss Plant City the year Junior Royalty burst onto the scene and said she remembers being asked to crown the very first winner.
Varnum competed in the pageant as a child back when it was held under a large tent at the festival. She fell in love with the tradition and later was crowned Strawberry Queen. The love refused to die and she is now the chairman of the Junior Royalty Pageant.
“It’s all very exciting,” Varnum said. “It’s exciting too to see how it has grown. When I was in it there were probably 10 girls competing and now we have 120. We have a drawing every year and consistently have to turn girls away.”
Though the pageant has flourished, the values it strives to instill have never wavered. Varnum said she doesn’t know if it’s the pageant itself or the prestige of the festival, but each year, the girls that come through her doors know what is expected of them and are excited to have a chance to represent the community they love so dearly.
Donning the crown includes far more than simply smiling and waving at events. The girls are selected to represent the festival and thus are immersed in all aspects of the community. They volunteer at events, attend Relay For Life, auction off berries at the livestock show, attend the South Florida Baptist Lighting Ceremony, and more.
Whenever the community calls, Varnum does her best to get the girls out there. She said the experience allows them to fall in love with their town and see first hand all that Plant City has to offer. It also gives them a peek behind the curtain at the life of the coveted Strawberry Queen and court, who are even more active in Plant City following their crowning.
“I just think that the festival keeps getting better and so, with that, there is a demand to find girls that are going to represent you to the best of their ability and I think it’s something that’s coveted,” Varnum said. “It’s something that girls in this town just aspire to do.”
She said many of the girls that go through Junior Royalty are the ones that will go out for Strawberry Queen. She said the Junior pageant sparks the desire to continue to serve the town, an inclination that only continues to grow.
Varnum and Parker’s family epitomizes that creed. Both women grew up through the various courts and when their daughters were old enough to compete they too aspired to wear the crowns. With such a deep-rooted love of the tradition, it’s no surprise they succeeded.
The pageant is run by Varnum and her committee, which is comprised of Parker and Katie Butson. Approximately 20 volunteers join her backstage the day of the event to ensure the pageant is completed without a hitch.
This year, Varnum said the pageant will include many of the fan favorites like the Queen, Princess, Duchess and Baroness dance while also bringing a fresh commentary with the new master of ceremonies. Sheryll Broadnax and her son, the “Reverend Roosevelt,” who used to own DeJavu Boutique in Plant City, will emcee and, hopefully, bring an “exciting and fun” energy to the pageant.
And of course, the crowns will continue to grow in size.