NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (RVO) by Cecelia Harmon – On Friday, the first night of the 23rd annual Peanut Butter Festival, nine young ladies from the community will take the stage at Gumtown memorial park to learn which among them has the honor of being crowned the 2018 Peanut Butter Festival Queen.

The queen will have many festival duties including helping out at the chamber tent, handing out awards for the mountain bike race, and riding in the parade along with the 2018 Runner-Up Queen, the 2017 Retiring Queen, and the rest of her court. The queen and runner-up will receive $2,000 and $1,000 scholarships, respectively, graciously sponsored by J.M. Smucker PA, Inc.

Being Peanut Butter Queen involves a lot more than merely showing up Friday night. The contestants are judged in three different categories: written essay, poise and appearance, and individual interview. The written essay is completed at some point during the summer leading up to the festival at the Redbank Valley Public Library. The essays are sent to anonymous judges for scoring. The individual interview and the poise and appearance both take place at the September New Bethlehem Civic Club meeting in the basement of the New Bethlehem Presbyterian Church. These portions are scored by a panel of judges.

This year, nine young ladies are in the running for Peanut Butter Queen:

• Jennie Dinger
• Natalie Harmon
• Tiffany Lamb
• Addison Minich
• Carly Over
• Kaia Rearick
• Emma Reddinger
• Karlee Wells
• Mackenzie Young

One nice thing local businesses do for the queen’s court is donate items and gift certificates that are put together into “Goodie-Bags” for the girls that are presented to them right after they have finished the individual interview portion of the contest.

This year’s donors are:

• Be Beautiful Salon
• Charles Leach
• Clarion County Community Bank
• Cuts & Curls Hair Styling Salon
• Debz Twisted Scizzors
• Evermoore’s Restaurant
• First United National Bank
• Hoak’s Insurance
• Joan’s Creative Cuts
• Joe’s Pizza
• Lacy’s Country Cuts
• Laura Neiswonger Thirty One
• Leader Vindicator
• PA Great Outdoors Visitor Center
• S&T Bank
• J.M. Smucker PA, Inc.
• Subway
• Valley Flowers and Gifts
• Village Pizza

Thank you to all of the sponsors of the Peanut Butter Queen Festival Scholarship contest.

Thank you to Judy Williams and the New Bethlehem Civic Club for all of the time and dedication given to this contest.

The crowning will be held at 6 p.m. on September 14th at the Gumtown Memorial Park stage. In the event of heavy rain, the crowning will be moved to the United Methodist Church on Penn Street. If you miss the crowning, you can be sure to cheer on this year’s queen, runner-up, and her court during the Peanut Butter Festival Parade at 3 p.m. on September 15th on Broad Street.

For more information about the contest, please visit the Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce website:
RedbankChamber.com/PBF-Queen-Contest

For a full schedule of Peanut Butter Festival Events, please visit the Festival website:
RedbankChamber.com/pbf-schedule

—

MEETINGS:
Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce meetings are held the 2nd Thursday of each month at 12 noon, at the Redbank Valley Public Library on Broad Street. Folks may contact the Chamber’s office to be placed on the meeting agenda.

MISSION:
The mission of the Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce is to represent the interests of our members and the Redbank Valley business community by:

• Facilitating strategic partnerships for the benefit of our community
• Educating the community on the benefits of economic development
• Advocating for local and regional competitive economic vitality
• Promoting civic leadership and community engagement

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES:
To learn more about the Chamber’s Events & Activities, please visit: RedbankChamber.com/category/events Or visit their Facebook page please Facebook.com/pg/rvchamber/events

BECOME A MEMBER:
To become a member or view the Chamber’s membership benefits, please visit: RedbankChamber.com/members

CONTACT:
If you’re interested in volunteering or getting involved, please contact the Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce at 814.275.3929 or [email protected]. You may also ‘like/follow’ the Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce on Facebook for the latest news/announcements: Facebook.com/RVChamber

For more info, please visit the Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce website: RedbankChamber.com