Apple Blossom Royalty visit State Capitol

Sen. Brad Hawkins sent this bulletin at 03/22/2023 11:25 AM PDT

March 22, 2023

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

During this year’s 105-day legislative session, I always enjoy seeing individuals and groups from the 12^th District who come to Olympia, so it was a special treat for me to meet with the 2023 Apple Blossom Royal Court during their visit to the Capitol on Tuesday. This year’s Royal Court includes Queen Scarlette Cron, Princess Dylan Schmitten, and Princess Natalie Pearson. These ladies did an outstanding job representing the Wenatchee Valley during their visit to the State Capitol. Their friendliness, pose, and professionalism was very impressive. Many thanks to everyone in the Wenatchee Valley who help make our annual festival such a big success every year.

Apple Blossom Royalty visit Olympia

I was honored to be visited Tuesday by our Apple Blossom royalty.This year’s Royal Court includes Queen Scarlette Cron (center), Princess Dylan Schmitten (left), and Princess Natalie Pearson (right). These ladies were so fun, friendly, and well spoken. They did an awesome job representing the Wenatchee Valley. This year’s festival will take place April 27 through May 7. Click here for full photo.

State Capitol among the royalty’s first trips

One of the highlights each February for my wife and me is attending the Apple Blossom Royalty Selection Night. Coming home to experience this first Apple Blossom event is not only a fun break from my busy legislative session, it is also a great way to support the festival, connect with friends, and get to know the royalty a bit before they are even crowned. This year’s event was held at the Numerica PAC for the first time. All ten ladies of the Apple Blossom Top 10 did a fabulous job.

I always enjoy “Apple Blossom Day” at the Capitol because of the opportunity to meet our festival ambassadors and help promote the Wenatchee Valley. The queen and princesses continued their Capitol visit tradition by meeting our 12th District Representatives Mike Steele and Keith Goehner and sharing the festival joy throughout the State Capitol. I had the opportunity to introduce our Apple Blossom ambassadors to several of my legislative colleagues from other regions.

The Apple Blossom Festival is one of the most recognizable celebrations in Washington state. Many of my legislative colleagues immediately think of apple blossom when they see the royal court walking around the Capitol. With the legislative session scheduled to end April 23^rd, I hope to make it back home to enjoy part of our 104^th annual Apple Blossom Festival with my family. The festivities begin April 27^th and ends May 7^th.

Apple Blossom Queen Scarlette Cron taps the Senate gavel while Princesses Dylan Schmitten (left) and Natalie Pearson (right) provide assistance. The ladies enjoyed the detailed engravings and features within the Senate chambers, including details about each Washington county and legislative district within the surroundings. Click here for full photo.

I enjoyed giving the 2023 Royalty a tour of the Senate, including taking them to the Senate rostrum (shown above), Senate wings, public galleries and the caucus room. Throughout the tour, they had the opportunity to meet with several legislators and distributed plenty of Applets & Cotlets. The ladies also met with Representatives Goehner and Steele among their other stops at the Capitol Building. Click here for full photo.

Watch my royalty interview and their song!

Part of my tradition each year involves an interview with the Apple Blossom Royalty and their debut of the annual Apple Blossom Song! This year’s interview took place in the Senate chambers near my floor desk and the song upstairs in the hallway overlooking the Capitol rotunda, which is the inside of the Capitol dome. In the interview, we get a chance to hear all about the upcoming festival and also discuss fun food fare treats. For the Apple Blossom song, it is set to the festival’s theme of “We’re all in this together.” That seems especially true for both the Wenatchee Valley and efforts at the State Capitol.

During our time together in the Senate, I took the royalty into the Senate Republican Caucus Room to explain the Senate’s bill review process. In the caucus room, we review bills and amendments up for consideration, which sometimes involves lengthy discussions. While discussing the process, the Royal Court had excellent questions about the legislative process. Click here for full photo.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve

Spending time with our Apple Blossom Royalty was a short but very enjoyable break from my busy legislative duties. If you would like more information about the upcoming Apple Blossom Festival, please visit appleblossom.org. If you have any questions about the session timeline, state budgets, or other topics, please contact me at senatorbradhawkins.org. Please call our Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 if you need immediate assistance at any time. Be sure to like and follow me on Facebook @SenatorBradHawkins, for my latest updates.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your state senator.

Sincerely

Brad Hawkins

State Senator Brad Hawkins
12th Legislative District

Website: senatorbradhawkins.org

Facebook: @SenatorBradHawkins

107 Newhouse Building - P.O. Box 40412 | Olympia, WA 98504-0412
(360) 786-7622 or Toll-free: (800) 562-6000

To stop receiving my updates, simply follow these steps: 1) Click here, enter the e-mail address that received the newsletter, click "submit," and 2) when a new page appears click "delete my account." You will receive a confirmation e-mail. You may also stop receiving my update by sending an e-mail to my office (brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov). If you have questions or problems with this subscription, click here.