All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

Strawberry Queen Cassidy Myers and King Joseph Robinson begin fruitful reign Wednesday during WVSF Coronation

The 2019 West Virginia Strawberry Festival King Joseph Robinson and Queen Cassidy Myers leave the stage Wednesday after being crowned during the WVSF's coronation at South Buckhannon Mission Church. The festival was last held in 2019 due to its complete cancellation because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This year's four-day event will be scaled back. / File photo

BUCKHANNON — The venue may have been new, but the tradition of crowning the West Virginia Strawberry Festival queen-elect and king-elect is now officially 78 years old.

West Virginia Strawberry Festival King-Elect Joseph Robinson is crowned the 2019 Strawberry Festival King by West Virginia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt Wednesday evening during the WVSF Queen’s Coronation. This is the third consecutive year for Robinson’s reign as Strawberry Festival King.

Although the coronation usually takes places in Wesley Chapel on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan College, this year it moved to the South Buckhannon Mission Church, where Sen. Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur, crowned WVSF Strawberry Queen Cassidy Myers.

Cassidy Myers, 2019 West Virginia Strawberry Queen-Elect, is crowned the 2019 Strawberry Festival Queen by Sen. Bill Hamilton, R-11, during the WVSF Queen’s Coronation. This is the 78th year for the WVSF, and Wednesday’s Coronation took place at the South Buckhannon Mission Church.

West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt crowned WVSF King Joseph Robinson at the ceremony which got underway just after 7 p.m. Wednesday evening.

This marks Robinson’s third consecutive reign over the festival.

The 2019 WVSF King Joseph Robinson offers a strawberry he grew to the 2019 WVSF Queen Cassidy Myers during Wednesday’s coronation.

The West Virginia Strawberry Festival continues through Sunday, May 19. Keep checking My Buckhannon for a daily schedule of events.

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