Rooted Royalty - a history of

By Sharon Hallack, Community Correspondent

“Mrs. Asparagus?” That was what people exclaimed from the crowds when my mother, Phyllis Slocum, was Mrs. Asparagus 1977. It was obviously a new idea, a new festival, a new queen, and people thought it was hilarious! They were used to seeing the Apple Queen, the Coast Guard Queen, and Miss Michigan, but the Asparagus Queen??

While the very first National Asparagus Festival (NAF) in 1973 didn’t have an official queen, by year three the idea had been suggested to consider a “Mrs. Asparagus” and the rest you can say is “history”. Maxine Huggard, then owner of the Oceana Herald newspaper, was crowned the first Mrs. Asparagus in 1975 and really set the bar for all those who came after her.

In doing research for this piece, one thing is very evident, each woman took the position very seriously. They weren’t just a pretty face who put on an evening gown and attended 12 parades a year. They were a public relations representative for the festival, the growers and pro- cessors, and the local community. Each one used their unique talents and contacts to spread the word about Oceana’s claim to fame.

Enjoy a trip down memory lane with a few queens from the years 1973 through the 1980’s.

1975-1981

The very first “Mrs. Asparagus” was Maxine Huggard. She set the bar for the next 50 years of queen ambassadors See a more complete bio in an accompanying article.

Mrs. Asparagus 1976, Joanne (Cheever) Lound remembers the NAF kickoff banquet being held at the Shelby High School. First runner-up was Mrs. Bill Cullen. “Carl Fuehring was the emcee and he misread the results and announced that I was 1st Runner-Up!” said Lound. Maxine Huggard the 1975 queen was on hand to crown her. “I don’t remember any gifts, but the prize that year was a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas.” Some highlights from her reign included a horse and buggy ride to deliver asparagus to Governor Miliken, Representative Dennis Cawthorne and Senator An- thony Derezinski; ribbon cutting for the new section of US-31 freeway, attending the Asparagus “Bowling” Ball at the Hart Eagles in a long gown; lots of radio interviews and the NAF/Bicentennial Parade through Shelby. Members on the NAF board of directors at that time were Ed Bauer, Evelyn Kokx, Ed Strong, Shirley Beachum, Jerry Gleason, Wayne Fleming, Tom Greiner and Dick Walsworth.

Mrs. Asparagus 1977 was Phyllis Slocum and Penny Dawson took the title in 1978.

The 5th Mrs. Asparagus, Jacqueline Spierenburg was crowned in 1979. Paula VanDuinen was crowned Runner-Up and together they reigned over the 6th annual festival. She received $750 in prize money. (A relatively small amount when you consider she traveled 3400 miles that year attending 22 parades, numerous radio and television appearances as well as all the festival events.) She was queen when President Jimmy Carter was in office and her recipe for “Oceana Asparagus-Carter Style” was taken to the White House because it had peanuts in it. She also was instru- mental in the production of the festival’s first cookbook and compiled a 100-slide show covering all aspects of planting, harvesting and marketing of asparagus. One of the crazier festival events that year was a piano smashing contest at Burcon’s Home Furnishings in New Era (where Meyer Chevrolet is now located).

In 1980 Mrs. Asparagus, Brenda