Stonebraker crowned 2016 Canal Queen
The 2015 Canal queen, Kristian Meek, crowns Megan Stonebraker as the final Canal queen during the Apple Butter Stirrin’ Festival on Saturday, Oct. 22.
COSHOCTON – The final Canal royalty was announced on Saturday, Oct. 22 as part of the Apple Butter Festival in Roscoe Village. The competition was held the prior weekend in front of a panel of judges at the Coshocton Christian Tabernacle. Out of three contestants for queen, Megan Stonebraker was announced as the 2016/2017 Canal queen and received a $500 scholarship.
“It’s really exciting,” said Stonebraker. “It’s an honor to be the last queen. It’s going to be a fun year and there’s a lot more meaning to it with this being the last court.”
Other contestants for queen were Madelyn Meiser and Jade Parks.
The 2016 Canal princess is Rachel Levi. The princess first attendant is Kendal Jackson.
“I was shocked,” Levi said. “I didn’t think I would win. When they said my name, I was just like wow! I’m still in shock.”
Other princess contestants were Zoe Hardesty, Savannah Langdon, Katelin Morgan, and Anna Richcreek.
“It was a really good year and made saying goodbye really difficult,” said Lynsey Stonebraker, the 2015 Canal princess.
The junior queen was announced as Aryes Hamilton. Junior queen first attendant is Karli Stickdorn. Other junior queen contestants were Jazlene Brown, Brianna Fink, Regan Foster, Serenity Lipps, and Kielynn Shearer.
During the crowning ceremony, each queen contestant gave the same speech they had given the judges the week before. Past canal royalty gave their farewell speeches and visiting royalty from other festivals introduced themselves.
The 2016 royalty will serve a full year ending with the queen’s breakfast next autumn. The Canal Days Festival started in 1970 and the queen contest began two years later.
“Due to the decline in contestants and the lack of financial support from the community, we felt it was time to end on a good note,” said Jacque Wagner, director of the Coshocton Canal Royalty Committee.
This was Wagner’s 13th year of being involved with the canal royalty.
“I’ve enjoyed it all the way through,” she said. “We had a lot of fun. The kids learned about Coshocton and Roscoe history. I enjoyed getting to know the girls and helping them with their travels.”
The committee is planning a farewell celebration for 2017 and plans to invite previous royalty and their families, and prior supporters of the festival and royalty competitions.
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- The 2015 Canal Days queen, Kristian Meek, crowns Megan Stonebraker as the final Canal Days queen during the Apple Butter Stirrin’ Festival on Saturday, Oct. 22.
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