Laura Bryan, Queen of the Texas Rose Festival, on Thursday January 5, 2023, during the Tyler Rose Museum Winter Gala benefit at Willow Brook Country Club. (Michael Cavazos/News-Journal Photo)

Laura Elaine Bryan was announced as the 90th Texas Rose Festival Queen on Thursday during the Winter Gala benefit for the Tyler Rose Museum.

Early during the month of November, Bryan was surprised during a dinner in Dallas without knowing what was to come.

“I was so shocked, so surprised, but so overjoyed and so excited,” she said. “I walked in and saw Mr. (Ron) Schoenbrun (TRF 2023 president) holding a big red bouquet of roses and his daughter who was a princess a few years ago had her camera out and I was so excited. Then they put a cute tiara on my head and we ate dinner and cheered for a fun year.”

Ready to soak in a big year ahead and with the honor of being this year’s queen, Bryan said she is looking forward to continuing the legacy of the TRF queens.

“I’m excited to continue the legacy and join the 89 past queens before me and that elite group and just be able to live up to what they did when they represented Tyler,” she said.

Bryan also said she sees the opportunity as a “tremendous honor” and looks forward to carrying on the family tradition, she said.

“I know being asked to be queen is an honor not only for me but for my entire family,” she said during her speech at the gala.

According to Bryan, the family tradition began with her late grandparents and she expressed gratitude for the foundation they laid. Other family members involved have been her late uncle, Max Hightower, who served as an escort in 1973, her aunt, Julie Hightower Collier, who was a lady-in-waiting in 1976, and her mother who served as a lady-in-waiting in 1979.

During the gala, Bryan said although she is carrying a tradition that is very important to her family, she is looking forward to representing the Rose City.

“I am looking forward to being an ambassador for Tyler and sharing our mission of promoting the pride of our community, our hospitality, and the history of the rose industry,” she said.

Bryan said she has grown up watching the Texas Rose Festival each year, especially witnessing her mother help put it together as a volunteer during the past two decades.

“It was great fun getting to go backstage and see the girls with their costumes up close or pick up leftover roses after the Rose Show,” she said.

Bryan participated in 2010 as an attendant to Queen Mary Lawson Bracken Walden and recalls being filled with sadness when it was over.

“I remember being so sad when it was over. I cried for days. I know this year is going to fly by and I’m going to try to savor every special moment,” she said.

Alongside Queen Bryan, the princess of the 2023 TRF will be Conley Jeanette Patricia Cavender.

Cavender is a proud Tylerite who goes to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She mentioned that the surprise came to her at the TCU and University of Texas game.

“I was so surprised because ever since I was a little girl, in 2012 I was actually the train barrier, and I just remember going around and getting the little girls’ autographs and they were almost celebrities,” she said.

Along with Bryan, Cavender is stoked to promote Tyler and is excited to share the experience with this year’s queen and the community.

This year’s TRF theme is ‘The Story of Film’ and the festival will be hosted in the week of Oct. 19.