Get To Know Ava Porter: A Senior At Wenatchee High School And Apple Blossom Candidate

The Top Ten Candidates for the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Royalty will appear this week on NewsRadio 560 KPQ/FM 101.7

Candidates compete in the Cashmere Valley Bank Royalty Selection Pageant at the Numerica PAC on Saturday, Feb. 10th The Queen and two Princesses will be crowned to reign over the 105th Washington State Apple Blossom Festival April 25th - May 5th, 2024 in Wenatchee, WA.

Check back here to learn more about each of the ten hopefuls for this year's Royal Court

Meet 2024 Apple Blossom Royalty Top Ten Candidate Ava Porter

Top 10 Candidate Ava Porter. Image:Parsons Photography/WA Apple Blossom Festival

Ava Porter is the daughter of Kristy Allen, and Sean and Shelby Porter. She is a senior at Wenatchee High School.

KPQ: Ava, congratulations on your selection to the Top Ten! Let's start off with the some of the high school extracurricular activities that you are involved with?

AP: I can start off with bowling. Bowling is my favorite sport of all time. I I love it for many reasons. It's a great way to connect with friends. It's a sport that anyone can do, especially at the high school. I'm the captain and anchor of my team. Which means I'm the best bowler, not to brag too much. I've actually got state I'm heading over to in Seattle, which is pretty exciting. I also play violin and I'm a section leader in both orchestras and violin is another great passion of mine. I've been playing since fourth grade when I started at Columbia Elementary. I just adore it and music has always been a big part of my life. It helps me work through emotions and helps me feel better about myself. And so being able to play music and experiment with different styles is a great passion of mine.

KPQ: Ava, explain any leadership roles or volunteer activities that you that you'd like to share?

AP: I volunteer every Wednesday morning at Columbia Elementary where I help with their beginner strings. And every Tuesday and Thursday morning, I go to pioneer middle school and help with their Jazz Band. It's it's a ton of fun getting to work with the kids and playing along with them, especially the elementary schoolers. I think it gives them a good example that they can be as good as me one day. Getting to see the look on their face when I play a piece that seems so hard in their eyes. I can just feel their passion, their love for their instrument growing.

KPQ: What has been your favorite class at Wenatchee High School and and what was it about that class that you enjoyed the most?

AP: I could say orchestra and I but I feel like I've been talking about violin a lot. So besides that more academically speaking, I have loved my physics class that I took last year. I actually want to minor in physics. When I go into college, and I've always loved math, math has always come super easily to me. I absolutely love numbers. Numbers just come up in my everyday life. So getting to see how those numbers affect things like gravity and friction and it's just very interesting to me.

KPQ: What are your plans after graduation? To further your education or pursue a career?

AP: I want to go to WVC (Wenatchee Valley College) to get my AA and then go to U DUB to major in astronomy and minor in physics.

KPQ: What are your favorite Apple Blossom Festival memories?

AP: I think one of my favorites is getting to see the parade every year. My grandma, her name is Char Allen. She's been involved in the festival for years and was a chaperone. The festival is so important to her so getting to go down and watch the parade with her and just see her eyes light up. All the different floats and the horses and the cars and everything is just amazing.

KPQ: Everyone has a favorite Apple Blossom Festival Food Fair vendor that's their first stop, their go to, so which of those Food Fair vendors is your your first destination?

AP: It's definitely the Doner House! it's just a great sandwich and the lines can be a little bit long, but it's always worth it.

KPQ: Now we don't have to wait for festival each year, they've got their location downtown. I want to ask you a question about the other nine candidates, which do you think is most deserving of representing the festival as a member of the royal court?

AP: Oh, wow, obviously you want to be in there, but that's a tough question. I want to say Lexie (Fennell). I just I look at her and I can just imagine her in the crown, waving at the big parade. And she's just such a sweet girl and very easy to get along with.

KPQ: When did you first give trying out for Apple Blossom Royalty a thought?

AP: It was when I got the paperwork in the mail. I opened it and looked at it and I thought, you know what, I do want to be in Apple Blossom. Like I said, it's been in my family for a while and I just feel like it'd be a great way to represent my community.

KPQ: Why do you think you could be a good representative of Wenatchee as a member of the royal court?

AP: It's a little bit hard to talk about yourself sometimes. I know i'm a very kind and compassionate person. And I feel like I have like different qualities. I feel like I could bring a light to those who aren't as popular and to show people that you can still represent your community.

Read Ava Porters's Full Bio

Ava is the daughter of Sean Porter and Kristy Allen. Ava is the captain and anchor of the Wenatchee High School bowling team. She is also a section leader in both orchestras at the high school along with being a concertmaster. Ava spends most of her mornings volunteering at Pioneer Middle School and Columbia Elementary with their jazz band and beginner strings respectively. In the evenings, she works as a busser at Atlas Fare. In her spare time, she enjoys crocheting, bowling, baking, violin, and drawing. After graduation, Ava plans to attend WVC to get her associate's degree, then will move on to UW to pursue astronomy and physics.

Ava’s favorite TV show is Adventure Time and her favorite movie is Step Brothers. Her favorite song is Black by Pearl Jam and her favorite book is The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. She is most inspired by Jen Thacker and her most treasured keepsake is Marvely, her husky stuffed animal.

Ava’s favorite thing to do in the Wenatchee Valley, besides Apple Blossom, is snowboarding up at Mission Ridge with her family. Her proudest moment in life was tying for third at state for bowling with her team and family by her side. If Ava could trade places with anyone for a day, she would trade places with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Ava feels she should represent the Wenatchee Valley because of her compassion, love for her community, and to show that you can do anything you set your mind to.