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Royal treatment
Strawberry Queen will reign at 42nd annual festival
One of the most anticipated entries
traveling down Main Street during the
42nd Annual Belleville National
Strawberry Festival Parade this year
will be the one gracedby festival royalty.
This year the traditional Strawberry
Festival Queen will be crowned during
formal ceremonies at Belleville High
School which will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 15.
The pageant will take place in the
auditorium of the high school on West
ColumbiaStreet.
This year, six young women, who
must be single, between the ages of 16
and 20, and residents of the Belleville
area, are vying to reign during theweek-
end festivities. The queen will be cho-
sen by a panel of judges and contestants
will be rated on their individual talent
performance, their participation in a
group dance, their appearance and
poise in evening wear and their
answers to questions posed during the
event.
Last year, the honor went to Evelyn
Kasperek, 16, a recent graduate of
Washtenaw International High School.
Kasparek won the judges favor with her
Polish folk dance. She is the daughter of
Vikki and Martin Kasperek of Sumpter
Township.
She was awarded the trophy, $1,000
in scholarship money, and several gifts
donatedby area businesses.
First runner-up was Janay Stuckey,
16, a student at Belleville High School.
She is the daughter of Shaylett and
JaysonStuckey of VanBurenTownship.
Second runner-up was Paige
Spitznagel, 17, daughter of Kim
Kowalski and Tony Spitznagel of
Sumpter Township.
The second and third place winners
were each presented with $500 in schol-
arship funds along with gifts donated by
areamerchants.
The pageant is under the direction of
Joyce Rochowiak of Garden Fantasy
who took on the responsibility of organ-
izing the event in 2015.
Madison Letwinski
Madison Letwinski, 18, of
Belleville, is the daughter of Kristie
Roberts and JoeLetwinski.
She is a full-time business student
at Davenport University and hopes to
one day own a dance studio to work
with young students helping them
"develop and grow in the art of dance."
Among her school activities are participation with the
Davenport University Dance Team. She was part of a team
that took classes and shot videos with a non-profit dance
organization inGrandRapids.
For her talent, Letwinski will be dancing.
IyonnaMeeks
Iyonna Meeks, 18, of Belleville, is
the daughter of Kenesha Thomas and
Roderick Meeks. She is a student at
Belleville High School where she is
involved in DECA, Woman Up, and
BellevilleNewTech.
She hopes to attend Eastern
MichiganUniversity andmajor in criminal justice.
Among her hobbies are cooking and she is also interest-
ed in cosmetology.
Her community involvement includes canned food drive,
andWay of theLamb churchhelper.
She is currently employed at Garden Fantasy on Main
andCrackerBarrel.
