A DREAM has come true for an excited schoolgirl.
Ella Wilford was chosen as this year’s Goostrey Rose Queen by an independent panel of judges on Saturday.
The 12-year-old will be crowned on Rose Day which takes place on Saturday, June 24.
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The Holmes Chapel Comprensive pupil has taken part in the annual event since she was a little girl and has always wanted to be Rose Queen.
Ella said: “I have been in every Rose Day that I could and I have enjoyed them all.
“I am really looking forward to the day and representing Goostrey at the other Rose Day events around the area.”
Ella’s two attendants will be Eleanor Stutfield, 12, who attends The Grange School and Nancy Napier, 13, from Knutsford, a pupil at Kings School in Macclesfield.
The 2023 Rose Bud Queen will be Phoebe Sharman, accompanied by lady in waiting, Isabelle Spencer.
The six Rose Bud Queen attendants will be Jessica Beardsworth, Elora Clifford, Scarlett Devey, Ruby Hemming, Hannah Pearson and Bronte Rushton.
More than 30 children attended an infant party in the village hall on Saturday.
Many parents donated prizes for the Rose Day tombola and enjoyed refreshments at a pop-up café donated by the Co-op and members of the committee.
In the evening, more than 100 villagers took part in a quiz that coincided with the close of an on-line promise auction.
The event raised £3,000 for Goostrey Rose Festival and to support the visit of eight children and two teachers from the Elizabethfontein school in the Western Cape, South Africa.
This will be the sixth time since 2004 that pupils from the school have visited Goostrey to take part in the annual Rose Day celebrations.
The children, who will be staying with families in the village, will also be taking part in lessons at Goostrey school and demonstrating crafts, sharing South African playground games and dancing.
The school has won numerous dancing competitions throughout the Western Cape and the children will be performing on Rose Day.
The rural Elizabethfontein School has 270 children, most of whom board on weekly basis in two dormitories.
Christina Burgess, chairman of the Rose Day committee, said: "Yet again the people of Goostrey have demonstrated how much they appreciate Rose Day by supporting the party, the quiz and the auction in such a big way.
“It is a very special occasion for the village and so we are delighted that, yet again, there are so many young girls who want to continue the tradition.
“I am sure Ella and Phoebe and all their attendants will have a day they will remember for a very long time.”
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