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Video: 2008 Strawberry Queen Kristen Epps Sings, Reflects on Festival

At an event celebrating the 2013 Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Kristen Epps, the 2008 Florida Strawberry Queen, sang the national anthem and afterwards reflected on her crown, her town and the festival itself.

 

Kristen Epps got a hearty round of applause after singing the national anthem at the Evelyn and Batista Madonia Agricultural Center on the Florida Strawberry Festival Fairgounds, at the media preview party for the 2013 Florida Strawberry Festival.

There, she was introduced as the 2008 Florida Strawberry Festival Queen, as this year's queen, Kelsey Fry, and her court looked on.

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"It was a blessing," Epps said about her coronation, "and it was a chance for me to be able to represent" my town and the festival.

"It's family oriented and Plant City is the strawberry capital of the world," Epps added. "It's a community that I would always want to be a part of. It's not stiff-necked, it's a wonderful community, and my grandfather was a strawberry farmer."

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A 2007 graduate of Plant City High, Epps said she earned as well a bachelor's degree in psychology, with a minor in Spanish, from Southeastern University in Lakeland.

Epps said she has attended the Florida Strawberry Festival "since I was real little."

What are the top reasons for going to the festival? 

The strawberries, she said.

"They're healthy and they're sweet and they're a natural teeth-whitener," Epps added. And "you'll learn about strawberry farming."

Mostly, though, attendance at the festival, she said, is "a good way to get away from the stresses of the day be together with your family and your community."

 


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