The Age of Asparagus: Crowning Mrs. Asparagus, Oceana County

As the song says, “This is the dawning of the Age of Asparagus”.....
Well, close enough.

Did you know that Michigan crowns its own “Mrs. Asparagus” every year?

Oceana County hosts the Asparagus Festival, as it has each year since 1973...but the festival had no queen for the next few years. Finally, in 1977 an asparagus queen was crowned and dubbed “Mrs. Asparagus”.....not the most attractive-sounding moniker as is the ‘Apple Queen' or ‘Miss America’, but the quirky idea quickly caught on.

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The first ‘Mrs. Asparagus’ was Maxine Huggard in 1975 followed by Joanne (Cheever) Lound  in 1976 (her prize was a 3-day trip to the Bahamas), Phyllis Slocum in 1977, Penny Dawson in 1978 and Jacqueline Spierenburg in 1979.

When Jacqueline was queen, Jimmy Carter was president. She came up with a dish called “Oceana Asparagus - Carter Style” which was made with peanuts as one of the ingredients. Being a peanut farmer, Carter was graced with his own portion of the asparagus dish when Jacqueline made a trip to Washington and dropped some off at the White House.

The crowning of Asparagus Queens continues into the 2020s and heads toward the 2030s.

Find out more here and plan on visiting the next festival when it takes place in the town of Shelby.....!