POE honors King and Queen Consort in Wasco

The coronation of King Charles III and the Queen Consort of England will soon be commemorated worldwide. In recognition of the event, the local J.T. chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization celebrated with a High Tea at the recent reciprocity meeting.

Six Delano, Bakersfield and Wasco chapters gathered at the Grace Community Church for the festivities.

In conjunction with the theme, guests were greeted at the door with a full-sized replica of the King and Queen Consort and given colorful fascinators, headpieces often worn by women of high society in England at weddings and other events.

Judy Proffitt, outgoing J.T. president, served as prime minister and welcomed guests and dignitaries with open arms.

The tables were adorned with white linens and elegant table settings. Guests were served trays of assorted finger sandwiches, salads and tea. For dessert, savory lemon curd cupcakes were decorated with frosting, gold crowns and an image of King Charles, prepared by Sue Portwood. Three J.T. members hosted each table.

A brief documentary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation and scenes of the royal family was displayed on a screen for all to enjoy.

Highlighting the event were performances by singer Stephanie Bloemhof as Princess Diana, accompanied by her son David as Prince Davey III.

David, a gifted pianist, gave an impressive performance of "God Save the King" and "Dancing Queen."

Stephanie entertained the audience with her renditions of "I Could Have Danced All Night," "Come Fly with Me" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The members were also entertained by the antics of the court jester Kristina Steinke from chapter M.B.

Beautiful Spring gift baskets and other items were raffled off in opportunity drawings.

The preparation and staging of the high tea were headed by the efforts of Lisa Edick and her committee members, Priscilla Neufeld, Janet Grundt, Sharon Nicol and Cheryl Woody.

PEO is a women's organization with almost 230,000 members. Its primary focus is on providing educational opportunities for female students worldwide. It owns and supports Cottey College, an independent college for women in Nevada, Mo.

The purpose of the reciprocity meeting was to provide the chapters from Kern County with the chance to share ideas, socialize and install new members.

Each chapter president gave a recap of the various activities and projects they were involved in during the year. Ginny Wickline turned over the president's gavel to Patty Young, who will preside as reciprocity president for the following year.