Meet Ella Stimmel: A Top Ten Candidate For The Washington State Apple Blossom Festival Royalty

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 10 Candidate Ella Stimmel

Top 10 Candidate Ella Stimmel. Image: Parsons Photography/Apple Blossom Festival

Ella Stimmel is the daughter of Taylor and Leah Stimmel. She is a senior at Eastmont High School.

KPQ: Congratulations Ella, thank you for joining us today. Please tell us a little about some of you activities at school or outside of class that you are involved in.

ES: I am in track and field and I absolutely love it. I've been doing it for two years and I originally did it to make friends and then realized it was so much fun and I actually loved the competition. I do triple jump and high jump and a little bit of sprinting but that's not what I'm good at. I volunteer with my church, I get to volunteer with the young ladies in my church and it's so rewarding to get to see them grow and I hope that I'm making a difference and making them feel loved and that they can see how special they are.

KPQ: You are a Running Start student as well?

ES: I am a full time Running Start student so I don't have any high school classes, but some people can have an extra class. For me I'm full time at the college I have three classes every quarter and it's so much fun. It's such an amazing opportunity for me.

KPQ: What leadership roles have you taken on and explain a little more about the volunteer work you are involved with?

ES: So I love to volunteer with Days for Girls, which is a charity that makes hygiene kits for girls in third world countries. And it's really rewarding because I absolutely love to sew. It's a skill that my grandma's taught me and being able to use that skill and bless others with it just it makes me feel so good and like I'm making a difference for others.

KPQ: What has been your favorite class at Eastmont or at WVC in Running Start?

ES: So I'm currently working towards my business degree, my business, AA and any business class, I took a business management class, and I really really enjoyed that because I love to work with people. I love learning how to work with people and better communicate. So it was really really cool getting to learn all the different aspects of business management.

KPQ: So where do you want to take that and further your education and career path?

ES: So after running start, I plan to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and finish my business degree. And then ultimately I want to do real estate like my dad because it's just a really cool industry and you get to work with people a lot. I love working with people so it seemed like the perfect option for me.

KPQ: What are some of your favorite memories of Apple Blossom?

ES: So probably my favorite memories are always with my older sister, and we love to go to the food fair because we're both huge foodies. Everything we do is planned around what we're going to eat and my favorite thing is, every time she gets a giant pickle. And when they give her the pickle, they go "pickle, pickle, pickle, pickle". And so that's my favorite memory, just going with her and laughing and having fun with her.

KPQ: I've been asking the candidates what their favorite food booth is so do you have another?

ES: Take me anywhere with a funnel cake and I am there!

KPQ: You're obviously hoping to be selected for the Royal Court on February 10th but what other Top 10 candidate is deserving of that honor, if you could pick just one?

ES: That is such a great, great question. And I have thought about this when you work with these girls, you think about them as Queen and genuinely, I would be so happy and I think they are all so deserving, too and could be queen. They are all so hard working. I've seen all the effort they've put in and I'd be so happy to see any of them as queen.

KPQ: When you were backstage with all the hopefuls waiting to see if you would make Top Ten, what was that experience like with the other candidates? It must have been gut wrenching and a precursor to what it will be like on February 10th at the Selection Pageant?

ES: It absolutely is. I remember being backstage and we're all holding hands and we're all waiting to hear our name called and hoping that our name gets called. And I remember that three girls from Eastmont had been called and I realized there were only two slots left and I started to feel a little nervous that oh, it I definitely didn't make it there are only two slots left are so many deserving girls. And then they call it My name and that was just an amazing feeling when all of a sudden I realized that all that hard work I had put in all the hours memorizing my speech and practicing my Get to know us. Making sure that I could show my best self had paid off and I had made it to top 10 I felt so blessed and so grateful and so excited.