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FFF Queens from years past reflect on experiences impact, family ties

By KEVIN RAUCH For The Express 6 min read

RENOVO -- For 74 years, the Flaming Foliage Festival Weekend in Renovo has helped to define western Clinton County, as changing leaves serve as the perfect backdrop for the three days of festivities.

For many it's a homecoming, as they travel back to their hometown, all while the locals roll out the red carpet each second weekend of October.

Not everyone that visits has been here before, particularly the teenage participants that represent their local high schools to highlight the weekend by taking part in events like the parade and coronation.

If you talk with the contestants of FFF each year their impressions are typically that of gratitude for their welcoming. The cheers and waves received as they travel through town for the Parade of Queens, sitting in convertibles or trucks, often surprises the young ladies..

With most schools that participate being smaller in size, it's not uncommon for contestants to know past representatives from their hometown, as it is now their time to travel to Renovo for a distinctive experience in western Clinton County.

Then there are those rarer visits, where older family members that represented their schools when they were teenagers now cheer on current contestants. In fact, three of this years' representatives follow the path to the Flaming Foliage Festival Weekend of their older sisters.

Still, it's safe to say that for the Stauffer family, from Johnsonburg, bloodlines and Flaming Foliage have more woven memories than just about any other.

It started in 1967 when Tim Stauffer escorted that year's Miss Johnsonburg, Colleen Swanson. There's little doubt at that time Tim couldn't have possibly realized the tradition that he was setting into motion.

Tim would later return to Renovo twice for his daughters.

In 1988 he sat along the parade route to cheer on his daughter Tracey, Miss Johnsonburg 1988, and the eventual 1988 Miss Flaming Foliage Festival Queen.

Four years later Tim was back, this time for his daughter Tara who continued the Johnsonburg tradition and arrived on behalf of her school in 1992.

As unique as that was, Tim would return a couple more times.

Tracey's daughter Nicole represented the school in 2016 and as fate would have it, the 1988 contestant's second daughter Emma last year in 2022.

Although Tracey wasn't born yet when her dad made his first trip to Renovo, she's been part of the families' other four visits to Renovo, a place that has left a rather fond love in her heart for the town.

"Honestly, I can't answer what the most memorable moment for me was or has been, it's just such a unique experience put on by an amazing group of people. It can't be summed up in one sentence," Tracey said recently.

"The way that the town comes together and cheers on people they don't know. They welcome everyone, it's such an incredible experience and I am very fortunate to have seen it from several different angles," she explained.

As schools come up with their own guidelines for choosing their annual representative, Tracey, now with the last name Myers, explained that Johnsonburg's staff picks their senior girl each year to go to western Clinton County. So it has been a fortunate turn of events that so many from her family have been selected.

As one would expect, Tracey shared her advice and memories with her sister and daughters before they participated in Flaming Foliage. But she also felt moved enough to reach out to others as well.

"I try and talk to Johnsonburg's representative every year before they go to Renovo. I just want to express to them that they should just be sure to take in every moment that they can. They will literally be treated like royalty for the weekend, so I just recommend that they live in the moment and enjoy their time there," Myers said.

Although Tracey repeatedly praised the committee for what they can accomplish each second weekend of October, she says the entire experience is full of memory making opportunities.

"The parade is great for sure, but the luncheons, talking with the judges, meeting other people your age, it's something that everyone that gets the chance should really embrace and enjoy," she summed up.

Myers said that the Flaming Foliage experience has not just been for those in her family that represented their school.

"It's been great coming back as an adult, but even my sons, when they came to cheer on their sisters, the moments spent in Renovo are great for all of us," she said. "My boys loved encouraging their sisters throughout the weekends."

Thanks in part to social media, Myers has stayed in touch in recent years with people from her second favorite town and the respect has been quite mutual.

"She's the sweetest, hearing her explain what Flaming Foliage has meant to her and her family and her gratitude of how they were treated here really makes you realize that we're onto something special over the last 74 years here in Renovo," said FFF Queen's Advisor Maria Ransom.

With decades of history and tradition truly appreciated by many, one can only imagine roads that remain to be crossed. Each year not only offers a special moment in time for so many. but could also just as likely be setting up yet other fascinating occurrences, years, maybe even decades down the line that will come into fruition.

Other known family members that have taken part of FFF Weekends:

-- 2023 Miss Johnsonburg, Kiera Marciniak, and 2014 Miss Johnsonburg, Alex Marciniak/FFF Queen are sisters.

-- 2023 Miss St. John Neumann Regional Academy, Elizabeth Weller, and 2017 Miss SJNRA Anne Weller are also sisters.

-- 2023 Miss Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, Lilly Mundrick and 2022 Miss SVRCS Emma Mundrick

-- 2022 Miss Central Mountain, Sydney Redmon, and 1991 Miss Lock Haven, Jen Troutman/FFF Queen are daughter and mother.

-- 1985 Miss Bucktail, Mary Fedele, 1997 Miss Bucktail, Allison Fedele, and 2005 Miss Bucktail, Sarah Fedele, are sisters. 2010 Miss Bucktail, Nicole Lavelle, is a niece of the Fedele representatives. 2015 Miss Bucktail, Sarah Jane Rathmell, is a daughter of Mary Fedele.

Starting at /week.