Local News
Joy Berlanga Queen Shenandoah XCVII, designate
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!
Joy lives in Texas with her parents, Tyne and Hector Berlanga and brother, Cruz. She is a senior at Independence High School. Her passions include gardening, an avid love for books, and finding enjoyment in building Legos. Balancing varsity volleyball and floriculture at school fuels her enthusiasm. Joy’s commitment to her academics resulted in being recognized as a National Hispanic Recognition. She is set to attend Colorado State University in the Fall to major in landscape architecture, aspiring to create beautiful and resilient outdoor spaces and gardens for years to come.
The family tradition will continue at Joy’s Coronation on Friday, May 3, at 1:30 p.m. at John Handley High School. She will be crowned by her mother and grandmother. Tyne was crowned by her mother, Susan. Susan was crowned by her father, President Gerald Ford. Queen Shenandoah, designate, and the Royal Family will attend many functions during the Festival and will be riding their “Royal Float and Coaches” during the Firefighters’ and Grand Feature Parade.
The Festival has been honored to have members of a family to reign as Queen Shenandoah. This is the first family to reign the stage of time from grandmother to daughter to granddaughter as Queen.
Tickets for Festival events are available at www.thebloom.com.
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