Newfoundland

Newfoundland

Oh Newfoundland… how I wish I was there once again! To anyone that ever gives Canada crap, you are full of bologna! I must say that my trip to Newfoundland was by far one of my most memorable trips. Was it because I had an amazing tour guide/ host Mrs. Judy Bennett, or maybe a fabulous stand-in coordinator? Maybe a little of both, on top of the fact that Newfoundland is absolutely gorgeous! I am now obsessed with not only watermelons, but also the state of Newfoundland. Once Whitney (my amazing substitute of a coordinator, past National/Georgia Queen) and I first arrived at the Deer Lake airport in Newfoundland, I knew we were in for a treat. 

Mrs. Judy who was in charge of everything that weekend (from our schedule to what stops to make if we wanted fabulous pictures along our scenic route through Gros Norme National Park), and was gracious enough to pick us up at the airport at 12:30am Newfoundland time. (If you did not know this, Newfoundland is actually an hour AND A HALF ahead of standard Georgia time.) Friday was absolutely filled-to-the-brim with excitement. Bright and early Friday morning we had a scheduled seed-spitting competition that involved a local radio show. My seed-spitting skills are obviously going down the drain because I got beat by both Mrs. Judy and the producer of the show. The next big attraction of the day was our first watermelon eating competition! 

 It was held “At the Gardens” Coleman’s store located in Corner Brook. I have never felt so much like a celebrity in my life. The watermelon display and watermelon eating competition both were a huge success! Over thirty kids arrived from a local summer camp for not only the annual watermelon eating contest, but also the large amount of watermelon treats the store offered (Watermelon rice krispy treats, cream-cheese on watermelon, a carved watermelon, watermelon popsicles, and even a cake with the watermelon queen’s face on it). You could definitely tell on the kids’ faces they thoroughly enjoyed their time spent at Coleman’s. Thank you to Corey, Byron, and all the other staff members that helped out with this watermelon fun-filled event! The second stop of the day was at the Coleman’s store in Deer Lake, NF.  The one thing I can’t forget about this store was the delicious cake they fed us. The interior of the cake was made with watermelon and chocolate chips.(Here's a link to watermelon cupcakes that are similar to the cake: http://bakerette.com/watermelon-cupcakes/ )  Imagine the best tasting cake you have ever had in your life, and then times it by ten. It was absolutely amazing! The watermelon eating contest here was also an exciting one! I forgot to mention that at all of the stores, the winner and runner-up of the competition would not only win a watermelon, they also received a gift certificate to the store. Thank you to everyone at the Deer Lake store who helped make the day so eventful! The rest of Friday was spent traveling to some of the most amazing/spectacular views I’ve ever seen within Newfoundland. (For more pictures of this, find me on Facebook!) 

Saturday was filled with two more Coleman’s stores in Stephenville Crossing and Stephenville. Each store, like the others, had a watermelon eating contest and a delicious cake to serve all the customers coming through! The Stephenville Coleman’s store actually had a band playing at the store’s entrance. One of the coolest things I’ve seen at a store promotion by far! In every Coleman’s all of the store workers were so welcoming and excited about our promotion. We couldn't have asked for a better couple of days of in-store watermelon promotion success. What was even more inspiring and encouraging was Mrs. Judy’s attitude towards health and nutrition in general for not only Newfoundland, but also the United States. Our country along with hers has an issue with staying fit and active but also just having a healthy diet in general. Mrs. Judy spoke of a demonstration she did at a local school where she was there to inform kids of facts about nutrition and why it’s so important. A lot of the problem she found out was that the kids just don’t realize how bad the food they eat is for them. The more informed kids are, the less likely they are to have a HUGE problem when they’re older. If someone could replace one junk item a day with let’s just say a slice of watermelon, it could make a world of difference.This trip was not only exciting and thrilling but also a way to re-inspire me. One reason the watermelon industry is so important is because it provides a healthy option in the middle of this junk food hysteria. America let’s get fit and healthy! Eat a slice of watermelon!

Atlanta & Company Show/ Braves Game/ Lake Park Parade and Festival

As most people know the peak of the watermelon season is around July 4^th, so in honor of this joyous occasion we participated in three very different but equally important/memorable events during the week of Fourth of July. The very first event we took part in was an appearance on the “Atlanta & Company” television show on 11Alive in Atlanta! Both me and Samantha had been preparing for this since we knew about it a few months before. There are usually a lot of nerves that come into play when you know you’re on TV, and we wanted to have everything just perfect by the day of the show. I want to send a BIG thank you out to Samantha and her boyfriend Matt for getting the display and food ready for our big on-screen appearance. Along with talking about how the GWA has affected me over the years and what I do as the Georgia Watermelon Queen, we also introduced two recipes using watermelon. The first was called “Breakfast on the Go-Go” and the second was the “Fire and Ice Salsa.” Both of these recipes can be found at either watermelon.org or on the National Watermelon Association’s website. I want to also thank our sponsors for the event, International Paper and Seminis Seed. Our second appearance was on the same day at the Braves’ Stadium!

 This was one of the most exciting promotions for me because not only were we able to pass out over 5,000 fans to all of the people coming in, I also had the privilege of being a Honorary Captain for the team! Our crew was posted up right outside the stadium in Monument Park which was the perfect place to meet every fan coming in. Thank you to Mr. Charles and Mrs. Dawn, Rusty and Rebecca from Seminis Seed, and my family for being there to support and help make the promotion as successful as it was! We also had the honor of having the South Carolina Watermelon Queen, Catherine Wooditch, in attendance along with her parents Mike and Lynn Wooditch. 

When the game began, as honorary captain, I made my way down to home plate with a Brave’s coach to give the head umpire the batting line-up. After this memorable occasion Samantha and I got to travel up to the Braves suite where we were fed hot pretzels, pizza, and soda, and got to meet a number of influential people. We finished the night watching the Braves defeat their competitors of the night, the Marlins. Our last stop during the July Fourth week was actually on July Fourth. Although Lake Park, like almost everywhere else in Georgia, felt the massive downpour of rain of July 4^th, their parade and festival went on. The parade went fantastically! I had the best driver (Barry Plotnick) and the hottest car in the whole thing! Afterwards we were invited spend the afternoon with Mr. Barry at his humble abode lining Long Pond in Lake Park. It continued to rain, but we did not let that affect our Fourth of July celebration. 

Thank you to Mr. Barry, his wife, and close friends for feeding us and taking us out on the pontoon! It made my Fourth of July! We headed to the Lake Park festival around 4 o’clock to spend the rest of the evening with the Lake Park community. Before we were hit by the South Georgia monsoon that has been all too familiar this summer, we successfully passed out watermelon to the majority of the people who took part in the festival. 

You have to be the best Georgia Watermelon Queen you can be rain or shine, in our case mostly rain. Thank you to Mrs. Sandy and her husband for stopping by and making us feel welcome! Like always, make sure you keep up with the Georgia Watermelon Association on Facebook and by our website georgiawatermelonassociation.org.

Toronto

So along with having the opportunity to hang out with some of the most fun-loving, well-rounded, and entertaining people who are involved in the watermelon industry, I also have the pleasure to go on some pretty amazing trips as the Georgia Watermelon Queen. One being going to Toronto, QC, Canada (or as the Canadian’s called it “Torono”). This was one of my favorite trips all around so far. If you've ever heard that Canada has the friendliest people, believe it!!!

Within our first day, a man stopped randomly to talk about the best things to go sight-see (partly because we were the classic tourist standing outside of our hotel holding a map looking lost), we received a free appetizer, and sat for over an hour talking to a couple of older ladies who were absolutely amazed about the fact I was the Georgia Watermelon Queen. The first night we were taken care of by Ms. Ginny, who took us to the most amazing Porteguese restaurant, then went fast asleep for the full weekend ahead of us. Friday we had the opportunity to appear on a Roger’s network television show. All three queens who were there for the weekend had an important part in the show (me, FWA Queen Brandi Harrison, and NWA Queen Amber Nolin). These included the nutritional benefits of watermelon, spreading the word about our Longo’s store promotions, how to safely store a watermelon, and how to pick one. The last and most interesting part of the show was the live watermelon-eating contest, me and Brandi were the judges! That night we had a blast going to see the play the Wizard of Oz in a cool local theatre and then had the opportunity to see some local bands in Toronto’s downtown square. The next day was filled with Longo’s in-store promotions.

 There were a total of three stores we visited: Bathurst, Maple, and Rutherford. Each store we visited was like a grocery store on steroids. They had the most variety of produce and baked goods I’ve ever seen in my life in a grocery store! Every location I emceed a watermelon eating contests for the local kids! The amount of watermelon a child could eat in the matter of a few minutes would astound you! I want to give a special thanks to Mimmo Fransone who was the man in charge Saturday afternoon in all our travels! Along with setting up the promotions and driving us around, he also fed us Tim Horton’s (Canada’s Starbucks) coffee and “Killer” brownies. The rest of the day we had the pleasure of making our way to Niagara Falls.

Fitting a group of seven in a small SUV for a road-trip to Niagara Falls was an experience within itself. Thank you to Julimar Rosado (rep. from the National Watermelon Promotion Board) for driving us and putting up with our crew for the whole weekend. Toronto was a whirlwind of fun. After we arrived home in Atlanta on our 7:30am flight, I almost wished we hadn’t left!

Cordele's Watermelon Festival and Parade

My next promotion led me to the little town of Cordele again, (which I never have a problem because almost my entire family lives there). Friday we had the opportunity to go up in hot air balloons again, but not only this I was also joined by the Chick-fil-A cow! It was glorious!! The site for the promotion was set up right beside I-75, so it attracted a lot of travelers heading south. My main job was to pass out watermelon to crowd and advertise the benefits of eating watermelon and also the upcoming Cordele watermelon festival. The next morning was the much anticipated Cordele Watermelon Parade. I have grown up going to this parade every year, so it really meant a lot to me to have the opportunity to ride in the parade. I rode in a red-hot watermelon themed convertible mustang, and was driven by my loving grandfather Tommy Mitchell (Love you Granddaddy!).

Thank you so much to Richard of Cordele’s Sunbelt Ford for letting us borrow the car! The rest of the day was filled with lots of watermelon fun. First we went to a luncheon that was attended by our State Representative Sanford Bishop, along with fellow GWA members Buddy and Margie Leger. Then we headed to the watermelon festival. Although I did not do my best at the watermelon seed-spitting contest, there were a bunch of people who did. Our winner spit a distance of about 25 ft!! I really appreciated everyone who came out to support us at this event, which included Mr. Rich Chastain, Pam and Rusty Autry, and my mom and sister, Janice and Ila Mitchell.

Our next event that day was the Sweet Melon Contest. We rounded up four different melons from surrounding growers, and I had the privilege of being the main judge in deciding who had the sweetest watermelon. We really appreciate all of the growers who donated a melon for the contest! Congratulations again to our winner Wavell Robinson!

The Taste of Melon and Farm Tour

As I’m on the flight on the way to Toronto I realized how far behind I was on my blog! This doesn't mean my past few promotions haven’t been as meaningful though I assure you. The past couple of weeks I've learned the true value of coffee, Red Bull, and 5-Hour Energy drinks. We have been traveling so much and promoting this fine vegetable with our up-most energy! I’ll begin where I left off at… Right after our commissary tour we had a couple of days break before we headed to Tifton, GA for our first farm tour! Sakata Seed was gracious enough to allow us to join them on their information session at a local farm. The whole crew consisted of Mr. Jerry Moore, a couple of guys from Moore Farms (Brock and Tyler), and the “Watermelon King” himself a senior breeder from Sakata seed. The entire time my ears were wide open trying the grasp the countless amount of facts that were being covered, and I will gladly accept the title the crew gave me: the kid in high school you always wanted to sit beside in class because of the large amount of notes they took. Did you know the seeds in seedless watermelon are called “pips” and are just seeds that are not fully developed? I sure didn’t. The day on the farm tour was blast, and I can’t wait to go again. My next exertion was to the Cordele Watermelon Festivities. This started the very next day after the farm tour in good ole Cordele, Watermelon Capitol of the World of course! I was a part of the “Taste of Melon” television show ran by Mr. Phil Streetman who I’ve known for years and was super excited when I found out I would be interviewed by him. Because I grew up in Cordele, Mr. Phil  of course knew both sets of my grandparents and had a great time fitting that into the conversation. This was a great opportunity for us to also advertise the seed-spitting contest the GWA would be holding the upcoming weekend! 

Happy Late Father's Day! I hope everyone had a fabulous father's day because there are some great dads out there who deserve a lot of gratitude and love for everything they do (including mine, I love you Daddy!). I also wanted to fill everybody in on the rest of my weekend. I had so much fun traveling to both of the locations we stopped at on our military commissary tour! Everyone was so welcoming and helpful, it couldn't have gone better. Our first location was at the Air Force base in Warner Robins, GA. Charles Willingham who was in charge of getting us there and helping us through the promotion, was unbelievable. Along with helping us bring people to our promotion table, he also did a great job of entertaining us in the process! We had a table set up in front of the store, and with the help of a large discount on the watermelons they had available, we were a large attraction. Our next stop was at Fort Benning! This is one of the largest bases I've ever seen, so I was extremely excited to travel there for a promotion. Scott Davis, who handles all of the produce involved in the commissary located on the base, was rearing to go right when we

arrived! Mr. Scott had created a large watermelon display that was perfect for our in-store promotion.We were constantly busy the entire time passing out anything from stickers and coloring books to watermelon samples. This was actually the busiest in-store promotion we have been a part of thus far! I had a blast all day, and there was literally never a dull moment. Throughout the entire weekend, I think I learned at least three new ways on how to pick the best melon out of the watermelon bin. My favorite was hearing how you can lay a piece of straw from an old broom on a watermelon and if it spins, it's good and ripe. Overall, it was a great weekend for the promotion of watermelons! I want to say a BIG thank you to Mr. Charles, Mr. Scott, and Seth (Scott's right-hand man) on letting us be a part of your stores and helping us along the way!

Visit the Georgia Watermelon Association's website www.georgiawatermelonassociation.org or our Facebook page

Hello again! Today I got the pleasure to sit down with Mrs. Ruthie Garner from WALB News 10 for a news segment about Cordele's Watermelon Day's Festival Events. The show was aired in Flint River Pottery of Cordele, GA, and was honored with some other special guests. John Woodard was there being recognized for his long farming services within Cordele and was actually selected to be the Grand Marshall in Cordele's Parade coming up on June 22. Along with him was other Watermelon Royalty, the newly crowned Watermelon Capital Queens. Other guests in the special included Patsy Grimsley (a local author), Laura Stephens (PR Director of Crisp Regional), Monica Simmons and Justin Lanier (Crisp Co.'s Exstention Agent) who both talked about the watermelon crop this year and all of Cordele's watermelon functions. Everyone in attendance showed their love of watermelon by expressing their part in Cordele's Watermelon Festivities. I had the pleasure of being in the same segment with the owner of the new Chick-fil-A in Cordele, MeriBeth Davis McNeill, which is located right beside I-75. Before the segment she joked how she would probably win the watermelon-eating contest at Cordele's Festival and shared my love of watermelons. Hopefully we'll be able to do something in the future at her store! It was another great day as the Georgia Watermelon Queen! Everyone make sure to try to make it out to Cordele's Parade and Watermelon Festival on Saturaday, June 22. I assure you, it will be filled with LOADS of watermelon fun!

Stay in touch with the Georgia Watermelon Association at www.georgiawatermelonassociation.org or our Facebook page!

First Blog as the 2013 Georgia Watermelon Queen!

Hey y'all! My name is Carol Anne Mitchell, and I'm the 2013 Georgia Watermelon Queen. What is a Georgia Watermelon Queen you might ask? I am the representative of the Georgia Watermelon Association who's sole purpose is to promote the watermelon industry from production to consumption and are constantly seeking improvements. I am very honored to have the position that I have, and me and my coordinator Samantha Tankersley (who I am forever grateful for because she keeps me straight) never stop trying to think of new ways to promote this industry. One of the ways we thought we could do this was through an up-to-date blog of my travels, as the Georgia Watermelon Queen. So far I have gone on two tv shows, gone to numerous in-store promotions, gone to two truck races to support Ross Chastain (who is graciously sponsored by Melon1 in Florida) from Charlotte to Delaware, attended one festival (Aloft Festival), one watermelon 5k (Cordele, GA), one produce council trade show, and visited one pre-k class (Athens, GA). All of this of course would not be possible without the numerous sponsors I've had from all of my events and the Georgia Watermelon Association.

I grew up in watermelon country. Cordele, GA, where I was born and raised, is known as the "Watermelon Capitol of the World." (The next few events I'll be a part of will actually be located there.) We are coming upon the "Watermelon Days" of Cordele which will sure to be a treat, as they have been for me for the last (almost) twenty-two years. There are watermelon decorating contests, watermelon pageants, a watermelon parade, watermelon idol, watermelon seed spitting contests, watermelon dances, watermelon-bobbing, watermelon-eating contests, biggest melon contests, and of course a watermelon festival, all of which I'm very excited about.

A little bit of information about me: As is only normal of any watermelon queen, I have a slight obsession with anything watermelon. I have watermelon pajamas, jewelry, bouquets, pictures, blankets, aprons, checker's boards, salt and pepper shakers, pillows, bathing suits, cups and plates, and will go crazy over any child with a watermelon outfit (which is only natural because I was raised wearing nothing but watermelon attire). I love the taste, color, smell, feeling it gives you after a big water-gushing-everywhere bite, and its nutritional benefits. My family is just as obsessed and are eternally grateful for everything its industry has provided us through our involvement.

I hope you're as excited as I am for my next blog! Keep up to date with the Georgia Watermelon Association News at www.georgiawatermelonassociation.org or on our Facebook page!