Linde Bolle, Emily Jaremba crowned Queen’s Court Attendants at 55th annual Michigan Sugar Festival
SEBEWAING – Channon Turrell of Imlay City was crowned the 2019 Michigan Sugar Queen during a ceremony held Friday, June 14, as part of the 55th annual Michigan Sugar Festival in Sebewaing.
Turrell, 20, is a 2017 graduate of Imlay City High School and attends Michigan State University, where she is pursuing a degree in accounting with a minor in agribusiness management. She is a former Michigan FFA State Officer and earned the prestigious Michigan FFA Glassbrook Scholarship. Channon is the daughter of Carlene and Larry Turrell.
“Once again, Michigan Sugar Company is fortunate to have found a young woman who we know will be an excellent representative and ambassador for our company,” said Rob Clark, Director of Communications and Community Relations for Michigan Sugar. “Her knowledge of our company and agriculture in general, along with the quality of her character, shined through during the selection process. We are looking forward to a great year with Channon as the Michigan Sugar Queen.”
Also crowned during the June 14 ceremony were 1st Attendant Linde Bolle, of Midland, and 2nd Attendant Emily Jaremba, of Saginaw. They, too, are serving as ambassadors for Michigan Sugar Company for the next year.
Bolle, 20, is a 2017 graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Midland and attends Albion College where she is pursuing a degree in kinesiology. She is the daughter of Jennifer West and Mark Bolle.
Jaremba, 18, is a 2019 graduate of Carrollton High School and plans to study biochemistry at Saginaw Valley State University beginning this fall. She is the daughter of Jill and David Jaremba.
The new Queen and Court Attendants will jump right into their year of service, appearing Saturday, June 15, in the annual Michigan Sugar Festival Grand Parade and helping hand out free bags of Pioneer Sugar and cotton candy at the festival grounds in Sebewaing.
This year, Michigan Sugar Company received 22 applications through its Michigan Sugar Queen Scholarship Program with 15 selected as finalists: Linde Bolle, Madelyn Day, Amanda Errer, Morgan Fiedler, Jennifer Gibbs, Faith Haener, Emily Jaremba, Nailah Kelley, Grace Kendziorski, Maddy Lamm, Breanna Moore, Hannah Newsom, Allyson Simmons, Channon Turrell and Kendyl Wilson.
Through the Michigan Sugar Queen Scholarship Program, a Queen and two Attendants are chosen to serve for one year as ambassadors for Michigan Sugar Company. Their duties include public appearances, community service projects, interaction with lawmakers and agriculture leaders and helping to represent Michigan Sugar Company throughout the state.
After completing the requirements of the program, the Queen receives a $2,000 scholarship and each attendant a $1,000 scholarship to be used to help pay for college.
About Michigan Sugar Company
Michigan Sugar Company was founded in 1906 when six smaller sugar companies merged their operations. In 2002, Michigan Sugar Company became a grower-owned cooperative and in 2004, it merged with Monitor Sugar Company to form the company that exists today.
Michigan Sugar Company is headquartered in Bay City and has sugarbeet processing facilities in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing, Michigan. The compay’s nearly 900 grower-owners plant and harvest up to 160,000 acres of sugarbeets each year in 20 Michigan counties, as well as Ontario, Canada. Those beets are sliced at the factories and turned into about 1.3 billion pounds of sugar annually. The sugar is sold to industrial, commercial and retail customers under the Pioneer and Big Chief brands.
Michigan Sugar Company has 930 year-round employees and an additional 1,100 seasonal workers. The company is the No. 1 employer in Huron County, the No. 2 employer in Bay and Sanilac counties and the No. 3 employer in Tuscola County. Its annual payroll is more than $65 million and its annual local economic impact is about $500 million.
Michigan Sugar Company is the third largest of nine sugarbeet processing companies in the United States and Michigan is one of 11 states where sugarbeets are grown in the country.
