Over a hundred years ago, Wenatchee's Apple Blossom Festival was inaugurated to honor North Central Washington's developing fruit industry. Phyllis Griffith has put together a wonderfully organized, and documented two volume record of the history of the participating Entiat Royalty dating from its earliest beginnings in the 1920's, when the title was Princess Entiat progressing the date of our last Queen Entiat in 2008. In 1996, the title changed to Queen Entiat, representing a "move for the participating surrounding communities to stand for themselves and their own festivals, and not to be seemingly subservient to Wenatchee's festival" ( from Nuggets of Entiat's Past,by Phyllis Griffith ) . Many readers of this blog will have a royal family member and special memory of coronations and Entiat's Royalty from years past. In 2008, the last Entiat Queen, Kristin Shull, was chosen by the community. She gave a speech about her time growing up in Entiat and her hopes for the future. " I think Entiat has a lot of potential and I hope to see many more family-oriented offerings in the future", she said. Fifteen years later, we are now living in that future, and her predictions are surely coming to pass.
On Saturday. March 25 , the first Saturday in Spring, Entiat will be celebrating an 11 year old very family friendly tradition "Entiat Kite Festival / Fiesta del Papalotes". The event is free and will be held from 11 AM - 3PM at the Kiwanis Park on Hwy 97A. The Friends of the Entiat Public LIbrary, the Entiat Chamber of Commerce, and various local businesses and non-profit organizations will be hosting and sponsoring this fun, free multicultural event. Rafael Aguilar of La Pera Radio will be our on-site announcer. There will be music and dancers, free kites, and a free raffle. At noon, Entiat Librarian Magi Clar,k will be joined by Apple Blossom Queen Scarlette Cron, and Princess Natalie Pearson, and Princess Dylan Schmitten offering Storytime to the kids and families. I first met Scarlette when she was an adorable somewhat shy, curly headed toddler when her mom Adrienne Anderson or dad Tobias Cron would bring her and her brother Lucien to Storytime at the Entiat Public Library when I was the Entiat LIbrarian. Her bright and friendly nature was a welcome joy then as it is now!
In her speech at the Apple Blossom Coronation, Scarlette reminisced, " Most of my childhood was spent in the Entiat Valley, in a house nestled between a river and an apple orchard, an apple orchard my grandpa planted because like so many generations before me, he could see the promise of the valley." She continued , "Imagine, 6 year old me, barefoot and wild, perched in a limb if a tree, my pet chicken beside me, biting into an apple from a tree planted by my grandfather." Scarlette moved to Wenatchee before starting high school, but still has strong ties to the Entiat Valley. We are so looking forward to seeing Queen Scarlette, Princesses Natalie and Dylan! We are hoping for a clear skies, a little wind and most of all stories to share about life in the valley and beyond.
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