History of Royalty: Queens and Queen Mothers meet for reunion ahead of Texas Rose Festival

Published 5:45 am Friday, September 15, 2023

In the city known as the Rose Capital of America, crowned jewels gathered inside The Thomas Hotel in downtown Tyler on Wednesday evening for the inaugural get-together of past and present Texas Rose Festival Queens and Queen Mothers.

“We are entering into 90 years of the Rose Festival and we wanted to commemorate it by having a reunion of past queens and their mothers,” said Liz Ballard, Executive Director of the Texas Rose Festival Association. “It’s a way for everyone to kind of get together and relive some memories of the Rose Festival.”

The recognition of the Rose Queen and her court is a big part of the annual Texas Rose Festival, a three-day event that highlights the role of the rose-growing industry in East Texas. The festival was initially organized in 1933 by Tyler Garden Club members, local rose growers and the Chamber of Commerce.

“Growing up, I always went to the Rose Festival and when I became Rose Queen in 2007, it was just this amazing opportunity to be a part of the community,” said Grace Cryer, owner of The Thomas Hotel.

The longstanding tradition of the Rose Queen and her court is often remembered by the lavish gowns and costumes inspired by the theme of the festival each year. The reunion served as a way for the women to reminisce and reconnect with each other at The Thomas Hotel, which was named after Cryer’s great-grandfather Thomas Boyd Ramey Sr., who was a founder of the Texas Rose Festival.

“This is really just a space where we can celebrate the past and we look forward to the future of the Rose Festival,” Cryer said. “I’m so honored to be hosting this event for the past Queens and we’re looking forward to doing this more often.”

The Thomas Hotel was the vision of Cryer and her husband after seeing the growth of Tyler and wanted to provide options for Downtown Tyler.

“We thought that we should start a hotel here and have a place for people to stay right downtown because people need that,” she said. “It’s just been amazing in the past year, the hotel has seen so much growth and so many people want to stay here.”

After purchasing the building and then building the hotel itself, the project took two years. It opened in August 2022.

“The heritage behind this hotel is tremendous and we are so humbled and honored to be able to be a part of it,” Cryer said.

The reunion had nearly 30 women in attendance, with attendees going as far back as the 1960s.

“This is my 10th year and this is the first time we have put this together,” Ballard said. “We felt that with the anniversary of the event, it would be a great time to kick the festival off.”

The Texas Rose Festival will be Oct. 19-22. For a full schedle of events, visit www.texasrosefestival.com.

“I’m just so proud that everybody has the excitement and wants to come together, to help carry this great tradition,” Ballard said. “It’s been such a wonderful experience.”