[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 42 (Friday, March 8, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

  (Mr. SPANO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SPANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate a tradition 
that has come to define a small town in rural Florida.
  Every winter, Plant City transforms for the Strawberry Festival, an 
event to celebrate the annual strawberry harvest.
  When the festival was founded in 1930, it was a way for the residents 
of Plant City to not only mark a new crop of strawberries, but also was 
one of the few times a year locals could eat strawberries, due to their 
short shelf life.
  Today, the 11-day event attracts guests far beyond Plant City, and 
the strawberry growers in the community now supply virtually all winter 
strawberries grown in the United States. This success comes at the hard 
work of growers in Plant City.
  These entrepreneurial men and women work tirelessly to bring us the 
strawberries many of us enjoy, and I want to take this opportunity to 
thank them for all that they do for us. Strawberries have become the 
lifeblood of Plant City, and our community wouldn't be what it is today 
without them.
  I also want to take this time to congratulate Kendall Gaudens, who 
was crowned this year's Strawberry Festival Queen. Kendall joins the 
illustrious ranks of many great women before her, including Florida's 
current attorney general, my friend Ashley Moody.
  I also want to congratulate Madilyn Conrad, who was named first maid, 
and Kennedy Cullins, Jada Brown, and Olivia Frazier, who were selected 
for the court.

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