• Home
  • News
    • Police & Fire
      • First Responders
    • Out of the Past
    • Weather
    • Manheim
    • Opinion
    • Entertainment
    • Social
      • Births
      • Engagements
      • Weddings
      • Anniversaries
    • Archives
  • Shopping
    • Serving You
    • Showcase of Homes
    • Taste of the Town
    • What’s On Tap
  • Sports
  • Obits
  • Contact Us
    • Advertising
    • About Us
    • Newsroom
    • Delivery Issues
    • Subscriber Services
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
    • Photo Reprints
    • Send Us Stuff
  • e-edition
Lititz Record Express
Don't Miss
  • ‘All is Calm’ is a Christmas miracle
  • Laurel Avenue Lights opens for season Nov. 30
Home   >   News   >   Sisterhood Saturday: Queens from seven decades join to celebrate pageant’s 75th anniversary

Sisterhood Saturday: Queens from seven decades join to celebrate pageant’s 75th anniversary

By Laura Knowles on July 6, 2016
  • Tweet
  • Pin It
Samantha Shields is crowned the 75th Queen of the Candles in Lititz Springs Park Saturday night.
Samantha Shields is crowned the 75th Queen of the Candles in Lititz Springs Park Saturday night.
The members of the 2016 Queen of the Candles Court included Samantha Shields as queen, Valentina Fernandez, Natalie Rhoads, Katelyn Hipple, Suzana Whiting, Lindsey Lefever, Samantha Springer, Hannah Weidman, Madison Miller, Alexandra LeVasseur, Samantha Machin, Abigael Weit, Cara Piehl as flower girl, and Isaac Afutiti as ring bearer.
The members of the 2016 Queen of the Candles Court included Samantha Shields as queen, Valentina Fernandez, Natalie Rhoads, Katelyn Hipple, Suzana Whiting, Lindsey Lefever, Samantha Springer, Hannah Weidman, Madison Miller, Alexandra LeVasseur, Samantha Machin, Abigael Weit, Cara Piehl as flower girl, and Isaac Afutiti as ring bearer.
Joan Klopp Clair is crowned Queen of the Candles in 1959.
Joan Klopp Clair is crowned Queen of the Candles in 1959.

(Left to right) 1950 queen Ginny Ranck Ludwig, Joan Klopp Clair (1959), Audrey Risser Cochran (1953), and Vivian Landis Aichele (1956).
(Left to right) 1950 queen Ginny Ranck Ludwig, Joan Klopp Clair (1959), Audrey Risser Cochran (1953), and Vivian Landis Aichele (1956).
Joan Klopp Clair is crowned Queen of the Candles in 1959.
Joan Klopp Clair is crowned Queen of the Candles in 1959.
The summer of 1953 was unforgettable for Audrey Risser Cochran.
The summer of 1953 was unforgettable for Audrey Risser Cochran.

Ida Mae Reiff High was surprised to learn she was selected as the queen in 1971.
Ida Mae Reiff High was surprised to learn she was selected as the queen in 1971.
(Left to right) Ida Mae Reiff High (1971), Linda Geiger Fleth (1986), Jill Musser Starliper (1990), Amy Fyock Stehn (1991).
(Left to right) Ida Mae Reiff High (1971), Linda Geiger Fleth (1986), Jill Musser Starliper (1990), Amy Fyock Stehn (1991).
Mother and daughter queens Mary Beth Gibbel Bertrand (1982) and Joan Reist Gibbel (1954). Photos from their crowning years are pictured to the right, 1982 above and 1954 below.

Joan Reist Gibbel (1954)
Joan Reist Gibbel (1954)
Mary Beth Gibbel Bertrand (1982)
(Left to right) Sarah Eshelman Sell (1997), Cheryl Martin Tennis (1978), Linnea Minnich Hershey (1964), and Sue Minnich Weaver (1963).
(Left to right) Sarah Eshelman Sell (1997), Cheryl Martin Tennis (1978), Linnea Minnich Hershey (1964), and Sue Minnich Weaver (1963).

(Left to right) Rufina Eckman Ebersol (1977), Kathy Eckert Wanenchak (1973), Kathleen Garner Schoenberger (1974), and Donna Steffy Enck (1970).
(Left to right) Rufina Eckman Ebersol (1977), Kathy Eckert Wanenchak (1973), Kathleen Garner Schoenberger (1974), and Donna Steffy Enck (1970).
(Left to right) 2011 Queen of the Candles Danielle Keim, Greta Weidenmoyer (2013), Reagan Conrad (2015), Mikaela Soto Watkins (2008), and Roxannah Hunter (2003).
(Left to right) 2011 Queen of the Candles Danielle Keim, Greta Weidenmoyer (2013), Reagan Conrad (2015), Mikaela Soto Watkins (2008), and Roxannah Hunter (2003).

There was enough royalty at Lititz Springs Park on July 2 to make the rest of us feel like… commoners.

It was indeed an uncommon celebration on Saturday evening when nearly 40 former Queen of the Candles recipients were on hand for the 75th Queen of the Candles pageant.

They spanned the 75 years of the Fourth of July tradition, ranging from 1950 through the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s. The newest queen, Samantha Shields, was crowned for 2016.

Not only was Shields crowned by the 2015 queen Reagan Conrad, but the queen from 1950, Ginny Lou Ranck Ludwig, helped bestow the honors.

Most of the former queens admitted that it is was a special sisterhood among the women who had once fulfilled the dreams of many little girls in Lititz. A few said that they had always wished maybe they would be queen. Most didn’t think it would happen.

“I was completely surprised when I found out,” said Joan Klopp Clair, who was queen in 1959. “I had no idea. My family knew before I did.”

Clair recalled that her aunt Anna Adams worked at the Lititz Post Office. Back then notification came by postcard. When Adams saw the postcard about her niece, she quickly called her parents to tell them something special was in the mail. Clair was the last to know.

Joan Reist Gibbel, the queen from 1954, was very surprised too. She felt honored that her classmates from Lititz High School had chosen her. Everyone on the court were the best of friends and July 4, 1954 was a special evening for all of them.

Gibbel got an even better surprise 28 years later, when her daughter Mary Beth Gibbel Bertrando followed in her mother’s footsteps and was named as Queen of the Candles for 1982.

“I was happier for her than had been when I was a teenager,” said Gibbel. “It was wonderful.”

The fond memories of the special holiday right after high school made being Queen of the Candles a landmark time in the lives of the former queens. Many were off to college, careers, jobs and marriages. It was one last evening to celebrate with friends.

“I remember the dress I wore. It was a turquoise halter dress, that was the style in the ‘70s,” said Kathleen Garner Schoenberger, who was queen in 1974.

Rufina Eckman Ebersol made her own dress in 1977, when she was Queen of the Candles. She looked stunning in her light blue gown, just one of her many talents in art and decorating.

Earlier in the pageant history, the Queen of the Candles all wore a white organdy dress with a ruffled off-the-shoulder sleeve, now very stylish. The dresses were made by the Lititz High School home economics teacher Margaret Hower. Hower also made the dresses for the Queen of the Candles court, in soft pastels, like pale pink, mint green and sky blue. The queen’s dress was white, almost like a bride, with a long train and a wreath of flowers in her hair.

“It was quite an event,” recalled Audrey Risser Cochran, queen from 1953. “All very grand, you did feel like royalty, at least for that one evening.”

Based on tradition, which began in 1942 with the crowning of Polly Moyer Keenan, a trumpet announced the procession. The girls dressed at the at the Boy Scout cabin on the hill above the springs. With the fanfare, the procession began, heralds led the way for the approaching queen and her court as they moved along the path from the cabin to the Paul E. Beck Memorial Band Shell.

The procession of the court was followed by more than 100 men and boys illuminating 10,000 candles throughout the park, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first candle illumination held in 1843.

The former queens before 1970 shared stories about finding out by post or ahead of time at school. On the the Fourth of July, they already knew that they would be Queen of the Candles.

“Oh yes, I already knew I was queen,” said Daphne Shaeffer Treat, who was queen in 1968.

By 1970, the tradition had changed a bit. The naming of the new queen on the Fourth of July was a surprise for that night. By then, the girls were also buying their own dresses, and they were not necessarily white dresses. The court of 12 girls was named in advance, but the queen was not named until the pageant, as the crowd waited in anticipation.

“I think it created more suspense,” said Donna Steffy Enck, queen for 1970. “I was very surprised. I had no idea.”

Ida Mae Reiff High, queen for 1971, was also caught unaware when they called her name at the pageant. She was crowned by her predecessor, Enck. High still remembers her very patriotic gown, in red, white and blue. Two years later, in 1973, Kathy Eckert Wanenchak was named queen in the park. It was a surprise for her too.

“I never imagined they would call my name,” said Wanenchak. “It was quite a night.”

Many of the former queens remembered exactly who crowned them and what they were wearing that night.

“I wore a peach dress with puffy sleeves. Puffy sleeves were in that year,” said Amy Fyock Stehn of 1991, who was crowned by Jill Musser Starliper of 1990.

Even the newest queens were thrilled to meet the queens of years gone by. Greta Weidemoyer of 2013 and Roxannah Hunter of 2003 mingled with Danielle Keim of 2011 and Mikaela Soto Watkins of 2008. They got to meet Ludwig (1950), Sue Minnich Weaver (1963), Linnea Minnich Hershey (1964), Cheryl Martin Tennis (1978), and all the other former queens who gathered right before the 2016 Queen of the Candles.

The younger girls from Pulse Dance put on a show for the former queens, honoring them with decades in music, from the ‘40s swing to ‘50s jitterbug. The ‘60s were marked with a lively dance number featuring three Tina Turners, while the ‘70s was a disco inferno, the ‘80s celebrated Michael Jackson, and the ‘90s and 2000s featured white-wigged Lady Gagas and other performers.

“We are like a sisterhood,” said Gibbel. A sisterhood of queens, that is.

The members of the 2016 Queen of the Candles Court included Samantha Shields as queen, Valentina Fernandez, Natalie Rhoads, Katelyn Hipple, Suzana Whiting, Lindsey Lefever, Samantha Springer, Hannah Weidman, Madison Miller, Alexandra LeVasseur, Samantha Machin, Abigael Weit, Cara Piehl as flower girl, and Isaac Afutiti as ring bearer.

Laura Knowles is a local freelance feature writer and regular contributor to the pages of the Record Express. She can be reached at lknowles21@gmail.com.

featured
  • Tweet
  • Pin It

About Laura Knowles

Related Posts

  • Holiday Home Tour is Dec. 8
    Holiday Home Tour is Dec. 8
  • Council approves Linden Hall upgrade plan
    Council approves Linden Hall upgrade plan
  • Preparing for snow
    Preparing for snow
  • Warwick grads creating a ‘buzz’ with new co-working space
    Warwick grads creating a ‘buzz’ with new co-working space

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

  • Holiday Home Tour is Dec. 8

    The Women’s Club of Manheim’s annual Holiday Home Tour will...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Norman S. Lannigan Sr., 96, WWII vet, electrician, PSU fan, enjoyed his family, birdwatching

    Norman S. Lannigan, Sr., 96 of Lititz, died peacefully, with...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • George B. Lewis, 93, MCHS grad, WWII vet, Wyeth worker, chicken farmer, EFCH member

    George B. Lewis, 93, of Elizabethtown, died Sunday, Nov. 17,...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Donna I. Kachel, 80, taught Sunday school at Grace Church, an avid volunteer with a servant’s heart

    Donna I. Kachel, 80, of Lititz, in the presence of...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Louis H. Hoober, 97, farmer, founded Skee-Craft Boat Co., fire co. volunteer, school board member

    Louis H. Hoober, 97, of Lititz, and formerly of New...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Miriam Gehman Harnish, 95, active at Calvary Church, helped with husband’s businesses, fantastic cook

    Miriam Gehman Harnish, 95, of Manheim, formerly of East Lampeter...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Kenneth E. Graybill, 89, long-time trucker, active Lititz COB member, enjoyed winter sports

    Kenneth E. “Ken” Graybill, 89, of Lititz, passed on to...

    • Posted December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Latest

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Holiday Home Tour is Dec. 8

    The Women’s Club of Manheim’s annual Holiday Home Tour...

    • December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Norman S. Lannigan Sr., 96, WWII vet, electrician, PSU fan, enjoyed his family, birdwatching

    Norman S. Lannigan, Sr., 96 of Lititz, died peacefully,...

    • December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • George B. Lewis, 93, MCHS grad, WWII vet, Wyeth worker, chicken farmer, EFCH member

    George B. Lewis, 93, of Elizabethtown, died Sunday, Nov....

    • December 4, 2019
    • 0
  • Zoning board approves dog breeding kennel

    A very quiet “boo” could be heard when the...

    • October 16, 2019
    • 9
  • Plans unveiled for former Wilbur complex

    Preliminary plans for the former Wilbur Chocolate plant in...

    • May 24, 2017
    • 8
  • Name that school! — District seeks input on name for new elementary school

    Manheim Central’s newest elementary school is currently under construction....

    • July 11, 2018
    • 6
  • Scott Shaub says:

    What an amazing person, you will be missed my...

  • Regina Goldstein says:

    Deepest condilences go out to Brandin's famil...

  • Kevin Campbell says:

    Well, there’s a name from the past. This is K...

Widgets Magazine

Our Location


View Larger Map

Links

Lancaster Farming
Ephrata Review
LancasterOnline
Lititz Community Directory

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Photo Reprints

  • Home
  • News
    • Police & Fire
      • First Responders
    • Out of the Past
    • Weather
    • Manheim
    • Opinion
    • Entertainment
    • Social
      • Births
      • Engagements
      • Weddings
      • Anniversaries
    • Archives
  • Shopping
    • Serving You
    • Showcase of Homes
    • Taste of the Town
    • What’s On Tap
  • Sports
  • Obits
  • Contact Us
    • Advertising
    • About Us
    • Newsroom
    • Delivery Issues
    • Subscriber Services
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
    • Photo Reprints
    • Send Us Stuff
  • e-edition

Copyright © 2019 The Lititz Record Express, a member of LNP MEDIA GROUP, Inc.