90th Texas Rose Festival Queen: 5 things to know

Published 5:45 am Friday, January 6, 2023

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

Here are five key facts about the queen:

Hometown: Tyler

Parents: Mr. & Mrs. William Arnold Bryan

Education: Graduate of All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, now attending college at Southern Methodist University

Previous TRF involvement: Served as attendant to the 2010 Queen Mary Lawson Bracken Walden, and watched alongside her mother who has been a longtime volunteer throughout the years. Laura remembers picking up leftover roses after the annual Rose Show and visiting backstage to see the girls in the costumes up close.

Family involvement: Late Grandparents Zelda and Keith Hightower; late uncle Max Hightower, who was an escort in 1973; aunt Julie Hightower Collier, who was a lady-in-waiting in 1976; and her mother, who was a lady-in-waiting in 1979 and a volunteer in various positions for two decades, including at an early age as an elementary student at the Queen’s Tea.

To read a full story about Bryan and her excitement to hold the title of 90th Texas Rose Festival Queen, click here.

For full coverage from the Winter Gala, which benefits the Tyler Rose Museum, click here.