July 5, 2000
Cherry Festival royal family
Four members of Penrod clan have worn Prince or Princess crown
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Continuing their 35-year dynasty, another member of the Penrod family of Acme will ascend the throne of a float this year as a National Cherry Festival Prince or Princess.
Princess Savanah Penrod, 6, represents Mill Creek Elementary School in Williamsburg this week, riding in a place of honor with the school's prince on their Pinocchio theme float.
The royal tradition began with Savanah's father, Dennis, who in 1965 won what was then a popularity contest to become Bertha Vos Elementary School's Prince. Between the father and daughter's reign, two of Savanah's cousins wore the sparkling crown, both for Bertha Vos Elementary: Zoe Sias-Penrod in 1984 and Mitchell Johnson in 1999.
The two recent winners, Savanah and Mitchell, were drawn by lot, as Princes and Princesses are these days. Their back-to-back service is a lucky coincidence that kept the family tradition alive.
Back in the beginning days of the Penrod reign three decades ago, getting the top spot required some politicking. Dennis still remembers his travels from classroom to classroom, exhorting his fellow students to vote for him.
"Being prince was fun, but the popularity wore off pretty fast," Dennis said. "I had to give the welcoming speech to the festival Queen because our school was first alphabetically. I had to memorize a lot of words I didn't know."
Dennis' parents, Walter and Verlyn Penrod, got their first taste of float building that first year as they hosted the project at their home. With the help of the princesses' parents, they built a giant paper-papier-mƒch‚ carrot in honor of their Bugs Bunny theme.
Three decades later, the proud grandparents are involved in float building mainly as the cheering section, as large numbers of volunteers have been gathering at Dennis' house to build the Mill Creek School float.
"Of my three children, each had one child win," said Verlyn Penrod, who has a cherished frame sporting a photo of each of her royal children and grandchildren, en crown. "It's pretty amazing."
The senior Penrods have also watched the dress of the princes and princesses evolve over the years. In 1965, the crowns were corrugated cardboard sprayed silver with plastic cherries glued on and now they have adjustable, tiara-like crowns. The royal robes in the early days were full-length and made of heavy velvet, while underneath the boys wore dress shirts and a bow tie while the girls had full-length dresses. Nowadays, the children of both genders sport more casual attire of white pants and a red shirt.