A Dream Come True
Outgoing Asparagus Queen Emma Woller reminisces on her reign
By Sharon Hallack Echo Community Correspondent
Growing up on an asparagus farm, Emma Woller always dreamed of being the Asparagus Queen. Perhaps the dream came about after all those hours spent riding an asparagus picker on the family farm, Shady Lane Farms in Montague, or maybe it was after reading about and watching all of the Asparagus Queens before her that inspired her to the role. However that dream was instilled, after starting her college education at Michigan State University, Woller realized she could use her background knowledge and her voice, to not only educate people about the crop but also build relationships with the people she was meeting.
When asked how she finally decided to run for queen, she recalled, “Last year seemed like the right time. I was still in school, and I wasn’t sure where I’d be in another year. I wanted to be sure I would be able to fulfill the obligations as queen.”
As queen, Woller said she attended a total of 16 required events throughout the summer of 2023 and the spring of 2024. Besides numerous parades, she also attended the area’s agricultural dinners and visited the state capital to hand out Oceana asparagus and meet with legislators about the importance and future of the asparagus industry.
When asked which parade was her favorite, she was quick to say the Grand Haven Coast Guard Parade. Attendance was huge, and the crowd’s reaction when she rode by was classic: “Asparagus Queen? We love asparagus!” For 50 years, that same exclamation has been heard by numerous queens and committee members. “Because it was
such a large parade, we had to stop a lot, and I enjoyed having time to visit with the people while we were waiting,” Woller said.
As someone who grew up around asparagus, Woller said she was able to answer a lot of people’s questions about how it is grown. She said it was always a great conversation starter. “When I’d tell people I was the Asparagus Queen, it became a chance to educate. A lot of people don’t know anything about asparagus.”
When interviewing for her new job as Field Area Production Coordinator at Bayer CropScience, she used it as another opportunity to share about the industry. Knowing Constantine boasts about being the “seed corn capital of the world,” Woller shared in her interview that she was from the “asparagus capital of the world.”
This past year wasn’t all work, however. She shared a couple of special “royal” moments as well. “At the Coast Guard parade, a little girl was walking behind her and kept saying, ‘Princess, princess’,” Woller said. “Then she gave me a bouquet of flowers. At the New Era Street Festival, another little girl came up and said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you all day’. She presented me with a handwritten note and a picture she’d drawn and colored herself with drawings of asparagus stalks, a crown and fall leaves all over it. I’ve enjoyed connecting with the consumer as well as the younger generation. I’d like to think they will remember me not just because I wore a crown, but because of asparagus.”
Even though Woller’s reign will end without being able to crown a successor (due to no applicants for the title this year) and there won’t be a queen to ride on the asparagus float this summer, she hopes the committee and the greater community will be able to find other ways to promote the asparagus industry at local parades and maybe a queen can be crowned next year.
“Being queen brought a lot of fun to my summer. I would encourage anyone interested to run (for queen). It’s a fun way to educate others about Michigan asparagus, how important buying local is, plus a great opportunity to support local producers.”
• Amanda Dodge/Echo
Senator BumStead welcomeS Queen emma
Senator Jon Bumstead welcomed Asparagus Queen Emma Woller to the Michigan Capitol Wednesday, May 15.
“It was wonderful to meet Emma while she was in Lansing to help celebrate the rich heritage and importance of Michigan’s asparagus growers and their contributions to our state’s diverse and productive agriculture industry,” said Bumstead. “Our state’s dedicated farmers are second to none, and their enduring legacy should be a source of great pride for all Michiganders.”
Michigan ranks No. 1
nationally for asparagus production, with its farmers growing more than 20 million pounds of the crop each year. Around 80 percent of the state’s asparagus is grown in Oceana County, home of the annual National Asparagus Festival.
Woller, who grew up on her family farm in Montague, was crowned asparagus queen in 2023 and served as an ambassador for the Michigan Ag Council. She is a 2024 graduate of Michigan State University, where she studied crop and soil science and agribusiness management.
Meteorologist George Lessens named Joan Glover Royale Parade Grand Marshal
George Lessens has been selected as the Nationals Asparagus Festival’s 2024 Joan Glover Royal Parade Grand Marshal. The parade begins at 2 p.m., Saturday, June 8 and begins at the Oceana County Fairgrounds, moving north through downtown Hart.
Lessens began his career at WZZM13 in 1980 as a weekend meteorologist and became Chief Meteorologist in July 2001. In October 2007, he became the longesttenured meteorologist at any single West Michigan TV station, with 26 years and 11 months in the field.
He has been passionate about the weather ever since the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes hit West Michigan. He grew up in Lowell, Mich., and formed a weather club as a youth to scan the skies for storms and tornadoes. Although he has never seen a tornado, he has been inside the damaged paths of many of these storms.
Over the years, Lessens has provided weather forecasts for many West Michigan radio stations, agricultural weather forecasts for West Michigan farmers, and numerous ski resort forecasts. George edited a weekly
weather column for the Advance Newspapers, enlightening readers with his vast knowledge of West Michigan weather trivia, facts and folklore.
He is a member of the American Meteorology Society (AMS) and holds its highest seal of approval as a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM). In his spare time, George loves working with computers, gardening and landscaping around his home. He lives in East Grand Rapids with his wife, Sherry.
The NAF Facebook page stated, “George has always been supportive of the NAF and has been involved throughout the years in various events. We are excited to be a part of his Retirement Farewell tour!”
According to the NAF’s website, “The Joan Glover NAF Royale Parade is an extravagant display of various bands, floats, queens, dignitaries and antique vehicles and is the largest parade in Oceana County! This parade is a long-time community favorite and attracts people from all over.”
Before the parade, Lessens will also be a judge for the Taste of Asparagus Competition, which
will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hart Historic District Heritage Hall, 100 Union St. in Hart.
“The Taste of Asparagus Competition is an opportunity for asparagus lovers to share their favorite asparagus dishes. All commercial and non-commercial entrants will compete for first place. The dish receiving the most votes from a panel of three judges will be declared the overall winner of each division. The public will also vote for their favorite asparagus dish, and the winner will receive the coveted People’s Choice Award,” the NAF website states.
The competition includes appetizers, salads or side dishes, main dishes and desserts, and all dishes must be prepared with asparagus.
Veterans, at left, marched down State Street at the start of the Joan Glover Royale Parade as part of the 50th National Asparagus Festival in Hart last year. Police, fire and emergency personnel, above, also joined in the parade, with Sheriff Craig Mast passing out candy to the children there. Emma Woller, the 2023 Asparagus Queen, waved to the crowd along with First Runner-up Chelsi Walicki, below left. More than a dozen past Mrs. Asparagus winners and Asparagus Queens, below, turned out for the parade. They were driven by Carl Wiegand. • David Dodge/Echo
the importance of having Been mrS. aSparaguS 1987
By Lynn L. Glaser Mrs. Asparagus 1987
Believe it or not, at 45 years of age, I had never worn make-up. In fact, getting ready for the National Asparagus Festival’s Queen Contest was the first time I had worn make-up; actually, my daughter Tara Lynn had to teach me how to apply it! Battling acne, beginning as a pre-teen, and not being able to wear make-up—in addition to being so thin, I never felt pretty! Although I was married to my high school sweetheart, a very handsome man, a successful pharmacist, and the mom to three daughters, I never felt pretty! Although I had many other successes: earning two degrees in education from Northern Illinois University; teaching elementary school as a substitute teacher; performing professionally as a folksinger; at 30, making a life-changing move from Illinois to Michigan to manage our new business—a 26-year-old log cabin resort on White Lake in Whitehall; simultaneously, managing our Chinese restaurant in Muskegon; coaching the Whitehall Cheerleading & Pom-Pon Squad; and being a weekend board engineer and announcer on WBLV Fine-Arts Radio, I never felt pretty! However, being selected as the 1987 Mrs. Asparagus changed that. It changed my perspective on attractiveness. No doubt, because the job of Mrs. Asparagus is a public relations tool for the Michigan Asparagus industry, I would guess a chosen Mrs. Asparagus needs to have the ability to enthusiastically and effectively communicate in order to be one. No doubt, attractiveness is probably not even a criteria.
Although I was a young woman who loved life and learning and already felt quite confident because of my successes and dressed the part, as odd and shallow as it may be, in June of 1987, being selected as Mrs. Asparagus made me finally feel pretty! When I would proudly don my beautiful white gown with my special Mrs. Asparagus sash and my shiny rhinestone crown and climb onto our float with Nancy Frye, my second-incommand, being pulled by Ray and Sheryl Sallgren in their green truck, I felt pretty! As I waved to thousands of waving and shouting onlookers at the White Lake Area Fourth of July Parade; the National Cherry Festival Parade; the Holland Tulip Festival Parade and the other smaller parades, I felt very pretty and special, yet humble, to have been chosen to be the one, out of the ten in the Queen
Contest, representing the Michigan Asparagus industry, appearing in so many families’ photos and videos, just like I was really a famous somebody! Therefore, I, Lynn Glaser, had my life changed by being Mrs. Asparagus of 1987! It made me a whole self-confident young woman! So, even today, having ridden in many NAF parades on a special float with the Sisterhood of “Mature Stalks,” having fun together, singing, shouting and carrying on, as well as having attended many NAF Queen Contests, even judging the 2019 one, I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to represent the Michigan Asparagus industry throughout the 1987-1988 season and appear in the Stalkumentary, “Asparagus! Stalking the American Life.” Also, I am grateful for the creators of the NAF and the thousands of volunteers who have made it an annual event for over 50 years! Although with the wrinkles of time and the age spots, I no longer feel pretty, I am very happy as I think about all the fun I had over the years with my 1987 Mrs. Asparagus’ title, which is deeply embedded in the fabric of this 81-year-old woman’s life! Thank you, NAF Board!
Asparagus Royalty -
Asparagus Queen 2023- Emma Woller
Asparagus Queen 2022- Grace Huffman
Asparagus Queen 2021- Tara Oomen
Asparagus Queen 2019- Alysha Sullivan
Asparagus Queen 2018 - Kendra Larios-Mendez
Asparagus Queen 2017 - Vicki Platt
Asparagus Queen 2016 - Mary Harris
Asparagus Queen 2015 ~ Courtney Kokx
Asparagus Queen 2014 ~ Danielle Kokx
Asparagus Queen 2013 ~ Amanda Dodge
Ms. Asparagus 2012 ~ Del Merrill
Mrs. Asparagus 2011 ~ Megan Roskam
Mrs. Asparagus 2010 ~ Kimberly Morden
Mrs. Asparagus 2009 ~ Bethann Riggs
Mrs. Asparagus 2008 ~ Michele Amstutz
Mrs. Asparagus 2007 ~ Heather Green
Mrs. Asparagus 2006 ~ Ann Dold
Mrs. Asparagus 2005 ~ Stephanie Wildey
Mrs. Asparagus 2004 ~ Kendra Masunas
Mrs. Asparagus 2003 - December Saucedo-Gonzalez
Mrs. Asparagus 2002 ~ Sonya Hernandez-Joslin
Mrs. Asparagus 2001 ~ Sarah Short
Mrs. Asparagus 2000 ~ Linda Jonseck
Mrs. Asparagus 1999 ~ Susan Tubbs
Mrs. Asparagus 1998 ~ Starr Yoder
Mrs. Asparagus 1997 ~ Kathy Grantz
Mrs. Asparagus 1996 ~ Beth LaPorte
Mrs. Asparagus 1995 ~ Cheryl Arcello
Mrs. Asparagus 1994 ~ Michelle Monroe
Mrs. Asparagus 1993 ~ Lorena Lindgren
Mrs. Asparagus 1992 ~ Stacia Andres-Mooi
Mrs. Asparagus 1991 ~ Tina Collier Houser
Mrs. Asparagus 1990 ~ Kathy Carter
Mrs. Asparagus 1989 ~ N. Joy Hamilton
Mrs. Asparagus 1988 ~ Barbara Sheren
Mrs. Asparagus 1987 ~ Lynn Glaser
Mrs. Asparagus 1986 ~ Mary Ellen Rapes
Mrs. Asparagus 1985 ~ Rebecca Wentzloff
Mrs. Asparagus 1984 ~ Barbara Schultz
Mrs. Asparagus 1983 ~ Denise Crum
Mrs. Asparagus 1982 ~ Carol Waller
Mrs. Asparagus 1981 ~ Mary Ann Carey
Mrs. Asparagus 1980 ~ Brenda Ricksgers
Mrs. Asparagus 1979 ~ Jackie Spierenburg
Mrs. Asparagus 1978 ~ Penny Dawson
Mrs. Asparagus 1977 ~ Phyllis Slocum
Mrs. Asparagus 1976 ~ Joan Lound
Mrs. Asparagus 1975 ~ Maxine Huggard
