(Brenda Joan Seal on the Dayton Tennessee Chamber of Commerce parade float for the year 1968. Photo By Bob Ivory) From Tennessee Strawberry Festival Queen to Miss Tennessee and the Miss America Stage Brenda Joan Seal, later known as Brenda Seal Kemp, was crowned Queen of the Tennessee Strawberry Festival in 1967, beginning a remarkable…
Strawberry Festival
Strawberry Festival Queen Cape
The historic cape that is shown above was on display in a downtown business window during the 2022 Strawberry Festival. The cape was made by Maude Thomison (1891-1975), daughter of Dr. Walter Fairfield and Ella Darwin Thomison, and the great-aunt of Pat Hawkins Guffey. Maude was asked by the Strawberry Festival Committee to make this…
Strawberry Festival Parade Video and Photo Gallery May 14, 2022
75th Tennessee strawberry festival On Saturday May 14, 2022, the Tennessee Strawberry Festival Parade was held. The festival and parade were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID Pandemic. The 2021 festival was reduced in size with no parade. A record attendance was noticeable for the 75th anniversary of the festival. Traditionally, rain usually appears…
Strawberry Festival Carries on Tradition
It All Began In May 1947 The 2022 Strawberry Festival will mark the 75th time Dayton has celebrated the arrival of springtime and of course the strawberry crops. The festival was originally sponsored by the Dayton Lions Club, in corporation with the Junior Chamber of Commerce, on May 24, 1947, to give the community a…
Tennessee Governor Winfield Dunn Strawberry Festival 1974
At the 1974 Tennessee Strawberry Festival, a local lady was chosen as the Strawberry Festival Queen. Rhonda Maynor was crowned being the first since 1959. The Dayton Jaycees won the Grand Prize for their float in the parade. Helicopter rides were offered and were a big hit among festival attendees. Topping off the guest list…
Strawberry Week Proclaimed 1960
The 1959 Strawberry Queen Miss. Janice Brown, is shown with Dr. J.J.Rodgers, mayor of Dayton, as he proclaimed the week of May 16-21 as East Tennessee Strawberry Festival Week. The festival was under the general supervision of the Dayton Chamber of Commerce with all civic clubs and organizations having a part in the affair. The…
1969 Tennessee Strawberry Queen- Janice Sproles
Shown in the photo above, Miss Janice Sprole, age 19 of Kingsport, Tennessee, the elected queen in the 1968 Tennessee Strawberry Festival Pageant at the May 1969 Tennessee Strawberry Festival Parade in Dayton, Tennessee. She had been invited back to the 1969 festival as the reigning queen, where she appeared in the parade and afterwards…
Rhonda Maynor East Tennessee Strawberry Festival Queen 1974
Rhonda Maynor of Dayton was crowned the Strawberry Queen in the 1974 East Tennessee Strawberry Festival. The pageant was held on May 25, 1974, in the Auditorium of the Rhea Central High School. She was the first hometown girl to become queen since 1959. Rhonda Maynor was a former Miss Dayton and Rhea County Jr.…
Strawberry Production May 1965
In May of 1965, it was Strawberry harvest time on the Crocket Farm, on top of the mountain above Evensville. Shown in the feature photo above, from left to right are Frank Tankersley, farm manager and Mrs. Lee Hayes, one of the strawberry pickers. Mr. Tankersley reported that they had 20 acres of Strawberries in…
Miss Kingsport Crowned Miss Strawberry Festival Queen 1963
Miss Mary Lou Walker from Kingsport was crowned Queen of the 16th Annual Tennessee Strawberry Festival here in may of1963 by TV Star Sebastian Cabot. Miss Walker, “Miss Kingsport” of 1963, is the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Kent Walker. She was a sophomore at Carson Newman College. The Queen, who sang “Love Is A…