A beloved annual tradition took place last week, as the Mattituck Lions Club held their 61st Annual Strawberry Queen judging night.
The crowning of the Strawberry Queen is the highlight of the Mattituck Lions Club Strawberry Festival, which takes place this year on June 18 through 21.
This year’s finalists are Caroline Kiel, Charley Claudio, Jackie Davey, Cora Small, and Mercedes Edwards.
And if you’re wondering how a young woman is chosen, here are the official guidelines: To become a Strawberry Queen, a potential hopeful can receive an application at the Mattituck, Southold and Greenport High School guidance offices. Next, a Mattituck Lions Club representative collects applications and a preliminary judging session is held, to narrow the candidate pool down to a lucky five finalists.
Three non-affiliated and non-local judges are selected to complete the preliminary judging process. The judges ask a series of questions to assess a candidate’s background, experiences and qualifications.
Finally, the five finalists and two of their guests are invited to attend a formal dinner sponsored by the Mattituck Lions Club. This year the dinner, which is traditionally held the last Thursday of May, was held at The Vineyard Caterers in Aquebogue last week. Festivities included a cocktail hour and music provided by the Mattituck High School jazz band, according to George Lessard, Jr., chairman of Queen Judging night.
The current year’s queen, Jasmine Clasing, presided over the ceremonies, and she told SoutholdLOCAL what it felt like to be part of the exciting night.
“It was so weird not being interviewed myself,” she laughed. “When I left the house my mom wished me good luck and I looked at her and laughed. It was different being on the other end of the table. I enjoyed every minute of it. The girls are brilliant! The Lions had a tough job voting for just one.”
According to Mattituck Lion Joe Doorhy, during dinner, the finalists are asked to visit with the guest at the event, introducing themselves and answering questions. Before the end of the evening, the finalists, before the entire gathering, are asked a random question and one standard question by the host, further helping those in attendance to learn about their unique qualifications.
At the end of the night, only members of the Mattituck Lions Club, their spouse or significant other and the judges select their choice for queen on a secret ballot, which is placed into a confidential ballot box. Next, the ballot box is delivered to an independent accounting firm, where the votes are counted and certified.
The suspense builds until the Saturday of the Strawberry Festival, when, at approximately 3 p.m., a representative of the accounting firm delivers the results and announces the new queen.
In the event of a tie, the judges and accounting firm review the score sheets created at the preliminary judging; the contestant with the most points is crowned the next queen.
All SoutholdLOCAL photos courtesy of Mattituck Lions Club and Will Tondo.
