Janice Peeler Crowned Granny Smith Winner

Janice Peeler is what one might call the 'senior' Apple Queen. She was the winner of the first ever Granny Smith Pageant held Saturday night (July 24th). The event was presented by the Lincolnton Business & Professional Women's Club. The BPW has sponsored the Lincoln County Apple Queen Pageant since the late 1970s and this year held a pageant for women over 55 who rallied for a crown and a cause.

Each of the contestants had a specific charity selected that would receive money if they placed in the pageant. Janice Peeler won and as a result Angel Bows, the charity that has for several years assisted local cancer patients after being started by Raemy Wensil, received $500. In addition Janice raised the most money at the door for the “Apple of My Eye” award and an additional $500 for Angel Bows.

For anyone not familiar, Angel Bows was started in 2013. It was the night before Father's Day that year when Raemy made her first Angel Bow. That wasn't what they were called then. The name came later. So did the cause.

Raemy made her first bows because she wanted to get an iPod case. Then, as Father's Day approached, she started thinking about her grandfather, Rev. Robert Wensil, the long-time pastor of Pearl Baptist Church in Iron Station, who had died after a year-long bout with leukemia the previous Christmas. Joyce Hoyle, a family friend who attended Pearl Baptist was also battling cancer. Joyce had insurance but it wouldn't pay for all the treatments, so Raemy decided to help.

She set a goal of $2,000--but quickly surpassed that figure. Many thousands of dollars (and bows) later, Raemy appeared not only on tv newscasts but on "The Steve Harvey Show."

When Joyce passed from cancer in April 2014, Angel Bows had raised over $37,000; and the cause continues to help other cancer patients.

While Janice won the first Granny Smith title and a thousand dollars for her charitable cause, the evening had other winners. Angie Rudisill Bradley was First Runner-Up and her charity, Special Olympics, will receive $250; Debbie Green, Second Runner-Up won $100 for the Lincoln County Coalition Against Child Abuse; and the money raised by the event beyond prizes goes to the BPW's Working Women’s Scholarship Fund.

The Granny Smith Pageant was held at the Lincoln Cultural Center. When they announced plans for the event, the BPW had hoped for a half dozen contestants--they wound up with double that number; and while they kept the admission price low hoping for a hundred or so attendance, they filled the auditorium to capacity.

The 2023 Apple Queen Pageant, by the way, will be the first Saturday night in August, and it will be at the James Warren Citizens Center.