Forever Fields

Lane DeGregory: PLANT CITY — The queen was late.

By the time she pulled into the new RaceTrac, hundreds of people already packed the parking lot for the grand opening.

The high school marching band was tuning up, the Budweiser Clydesdales were huffing in their harnesses, and the queen's court was waiting beneath a balloon arch. The four teen girls wore what the queen wore: ruffly red sundresses, white jackets with strawberry sequins and the mandatory lipstick they called "old lady red."

The queen grabbed her crown off the dashboard of her red VW Jetta and stepped into the sunlight. Bending into her driver's side mirror, she pulled back her long blond curls and pinned on the 7-inch tiara.

"Hey!" called a middle-aged man in a Polo shirt. "We got royalty here!"

Chelsea Bowden, 18, pasted on a smile. In almost a year as Plant City's strawberry queen, she had learned to react with poise and grace — even the time a guy wanted to lick her crown to see if it tasted like strawberries.

"Okay, your job is easy," a woman wearing a RaceTrac shirt told Chelsea, leading her past the gas pumps toward the red carpet. "The store manager is going to cut the ribbon. All you have to do is stand here and look pretty."

As the Junior ROTC color guard waved flags and someone sang The Star-Spangled Banner, the queen held her manicured hand over her heart, closed her eyes, and prayed that she could fulfill everyone's expectations.

At least for one more day.