Queen Shenandoah XCVII

Joy Elizabeth Berlanga has been named Queen Shenandoah XCVII, designate.  Sharen Gromling, president of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® takes great pleasure to make this announcement with the generational significance and this being the 100th anniversary of the Festival’s beginning. Joy is the daughter of Tyne Vance Berlanga, Queen Shenandoah in 2001, and the granddaughter of Susan Ford Bales, Queen Shenandoah 1975. 
 
Joy is excited to follow in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother and eagerly embraces the honor of becoming Queen Shenandoah.  She has heard so many fond memories of their time in Winchester.  She is thrilled to experience it herself!

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Festival Grand Marshal

​Sharen Gromling, president of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® is honored to welcome Jon Huertas back to his hometown to serve as Grand Marshal of the 2024 Festival.  Jon Huertas is known professionally as an actor, director, and producer. In his hometown, when he graduated from John Handley High School in 1987, he was known as Scott Hofstedt.

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Festival Honorary Grand Marshal

Celebrating our local heroes, especially those who have made a significant impact on our quality of life, is an infrequent Festival tradition that we bestow from time to time.  The Honorary Grand Marshal title is a coveted honor and one that is granted to an individual(s) who has achieved great things and shared their time, talents, and gifts to shape our community into what it is today.  When asked to describe this person, his fans have said “if there are angels among us, he is one of them. He is one of the most sincere, dedicated, and community service people I’ve ever met.  He’s all real.”  In keeping with President Gromling’s focus of thanking local celebrities who have done so much not only for the Festival but for our entire community and beyond, the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® is thrilled to announce the 97th Festival’s Honorary Grand Marshal and everyone’s favorite morning radio personality, Barry Lee.  

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Firefighters' Marshal

In keeping with our effort to have a local/regional connection to our Festival guests, Gromling is thrilled that Huntley is “almost local”, living just over the mountains in Fredericksburg, VA, with his two children, Stella and Michael, Jr.  Singer-songwriter Huntley captivated fans and audiences with his style of southern blues and rock, and raspy vocal ranges and gained mass recognition for his versatile style and command on stage. Compared to the likes of Chris Stapleton, Radiohead, and Bradley Nowell of Sublime, Huntley’s polished performances garnered him as having performed on big stages his whole life.

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Presented by

Festival Sports Marshal

Archie Manning, of the Manning family quarterback legacy, philanthropist, football analyst, award winner will be welcomed as Sport Marshal of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival®

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Sports Marshal sponsored by:

Kids' Marshal

Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival® president, Sharen Gromling, in partnership with Kings Dominion, is pleased to announce the addition of a Kids’ Marshal for the 97th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival®.   Snoopy, the beloved beagle from the Charles M. Schultz’ Peanuts™ cartoon strip will join us on Friday, May 3 for several family focused events as we celebrate our Festival’s 100th Birthday.   

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Presented by

Festival Special Guests

Legendary Terrapin National Champion Basketball Coach
to be Guest Speaker at Partlow Insurance Sports Breakfast

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Steeler Super Bowl Champion Running Back, Wounded Warrior to be a Special Sports Guest of the Festival

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Film, television, drama, comedy, and celebrity DJ, Efren Ramirez will serve as Court Ambassador during the Coronation of Queen Shenandoah. 

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Jas Boothe, Former Army Officer Speaker at Navy Federal Credit Union Veterans Dinner Show on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. 

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Rita D. McClenny, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) will be visiting the Festival’s 100th Anniversary celebration. 

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Winchester native and Miss Virginia 2023, Katie Rose captured the crown in July of 2023 during the annual Miss Virginia Pageant held at the Berglund Center in Roanoke. 

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Sydney Spencer, representing the Prince William County Fair, was crowned Miss Virginia Association of Fairs 2024 during their 106th conference. 

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Celebrity Sponsors

Valley Health Business at the Bloom
​Guest Speaker

Stephanie Stuckey has been named the featured speaker of Valley Health Business at the Bloom Luncheon by Sharen Gromling, president of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival®
 
Stephanie Stuckey is Chair of Stuckey’s, known as a highway oasis to generations of Americans. Founded in 1937 by her grandfather, W.S. Stuckey, Sr. in Eastman, Georgia, Stuckey’s grew into over 350 stores nationwide. However, the company was sold and sadly declined for decades under outside ownership.
 
Fortunately, it’s now back in family hands thanks to Stephanie buying Stuckey’s in 2019. She and her partners purchased a candy plant in Wrens, GA in 2021 and are reviving the company as a pecan snack & candy brand.

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Prayer Brunch presented by Knouse Foods/Musselman's
Guest Speaker

Parenting expert Ryan Dobson grew up as the son of another parenting expert, Focus on the Family founder, Dr. James Dobson.
Ryan, along with his wife Laura, speaks around the country nearly every weekend in churches, strengthening families and marriages. Dobson is also host of the REBEL Parenting Podcast.

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Prayer Brunch Speaker Sponsors

​Ladies Horticultural Luncheon Speaker

Kara Dixon is the Deputy Director of Video Production for the Senate Democratic Media Center for the US Senate in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Winchester, Virginia and is a proud graduate of John Handley High School, where she was student government vice president and a member of the state record breaking 4x400 meter track and field relay team.
 
Kara is also a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. At UMD, she participated in the CBC-UNC Diversity Fellowship Program led by UNC and WRAL. During college, Kara was a member of Capital News Service and View Finder presented by the University of Maryland. Both programs won numerous regional and national awards.

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