What a fun and educational convention we enjoyed at the Southfork Hotel in Plano on November 6-8! We were very well cared for with comfortable rooms and gracious hotel service. Ted, thank you for all the care you put into the location of the convention. Beekeepers abounded from all over Texas. There was much to be learned, thanks to the fine speakers set up by Todd Youngblood.

On Thursday evening, our American Honey Queen fed us well at the Bee Buzz, in addition to the lovely light buffet provided by the hotel. We enjoyed a honey snack mix of cereal, nuts, and pretzels made by Rachael Seida. Collin County Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon, served honey ice cream; Collin County Honey Princess, Allison Adams, served honey apricot bread with honey cream cheese spread. A table was set for Alamo Area Honey Queen, Coe Gwinn, who unfortunately was unable to join us at the gathering.

After the opening of the 2008 convention on Friday morning, Rachael gave a thorough power point presentation of her year as American Honey Queen, including events in Texas. Two hours of TBA honey judging was next on the Queenly Agenda. Then at noon came the delicious Queens Luncheon buffet with a Honey Queen, Honey Princess, or young woman (interested in the queen program) seated at each of the tables. The young women were Kaylynn Mansker of Nevada, TX; Carissa Koehn of Celina, TX; and Caroline Adams of Plano, TX. Although the hotel provided several tasty desserts, Jennie Kornfield of Plano and Joanne Hunt of Wylie provided "skep" cakes and honey ice cream for a unique treat. Thank you, Jennie and Joanne, for the special finale to the Queens Luncheon!!

Sixty kindergarteners at Yale Elementary School in Richardson, TX, were the focus of the Honey Queens and Honey Princess from 2-3 PM that Friday afternoon as they made beekeeping presentations. Janice Thomas of Bryan, Ann Edwards-Ford of Plano, and Shirley Acevedo of Princeton accompanied the Royalty to the beekeeping presentations for support, as did Kaylynn Mansker, Carissa Koehn, Caroline Adams, and CCHBA scholarship recipient Cyrus Speicher.

In the spirit of recreation, the Honey Queens and Princess then had time for a quarter hour of laser tag and a tasty meal of Mexican food before the 7 PM Judging Awards and Quiz Bow on Friday eveningl. Sarah Kornfield (2005 American Honey Queen) of College Station and Sarah Paulson (1998 American Honey Princess) of Plano devised an exciting Quiz Bowl of three teams: Rachael Seida and John Talbert; Nicole Pettibon and Ted Vance; Allison Adams and Blake Shook. After fierce and fun rounds and difficult questions from the audience, our American Honey Queen and John Talbert prevailed and won! All who were hungry then headed to nearby Braum's for ice cream and comraderie.

Saturday morning began early with a delicious buffet breakfast and delegates meeting. The convention sessions ran until noon. Indian food lunch was the Queens' and Princess'choice. Then came the TBA afternoon business meeting and afterwards, time for the royalty to relax and swim a bit before the evening banquet. Ned Adams escorted daughter Allison (CCHBA Honey Princess); Patrick Pettibon escorted daughter Nicole (CCHBA Honey Queen); Steven Seida escorted daughter Rachael (American Honey Queen). All were seated and served fine food. Awards were made.

Nicole Pettibon of McKinney, TX, was then crowned 2009 Texas Honey Queen by American Honey Queen Rachael Seida! The sash and gorgeous red rose bouquet were presented to Nicole by Rachael Seida and Collin County Honey Princess Allison Adams. Thank you, Janet Rowe, for making the beautiful bouquet of roses and the twenty-five unique banquet centerpieces! After the crowning and photos, our three notable auctioneers (Ted Vance, Ed Priest, and Dick Counts) made a remarkable contribution by raising more than $6700 toward the Texas Honey Queen fund. Thank you, dear Texas Beekeepers, for your generous and loving support of our Texas Honey Queen program by donating items and by your purchase of numerous auction items. Lavada Talbert of Josephine and Sheila Warne of Anna took very good care of all auction donations during the convention. Thank you, Leslee Talbert (1992 Texas Honey Queen) and Ann Edwards-Ford, for making it a simple matter to pay for the auctioned items. What a supportive group we Texas Beekeepers are! Thank you to each and every one of you!

As you have a special event in your area and you would like for the 2009 Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon, to join you, please call me or email me. Thank you again, dear Texas Beekeepeers! I am so proud to be a part!

Shirley Acevedo
Texas Honey Queen chairperson
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