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An estimated 300 people turned out for the 50th annual Mum Festival at Seamon Park .
One of the attractions was the chance to meet a number of former mum queens as well as the current queen and her court.
One former queen came up from North Carolina with her boyfriend and got engaged at the lighthouse the previous day after the Mum Bowl football game.
Christina Craft thought it would be great to come back to Saugerties, “a town I really love,” and bring her boyfriend, Steven McCormack, with her.
“The truth is, I was really homesick,” said Craft, whose sister was in the mum queen court two years ago.
“I took him out for a walk to the lighthouse and he proposed,” said the gushing soon-to-be-bride.
“We wanted to do something special for this year,” said Ethel Resso, president of the Mum Festival Committee.
Twelve of the 50 came back for the previous day’s football game and most went to the festival.
“It’s all about community. It’s all about tradition,” said village trustee Jeannine Mayer during her welcoming speech at the start of the festival.
“Each year we look to share the beauty of the community of the park and of our mums,” she added.
George Terpening, superintendent of Parks, and Buildings and Grounds, and his crew planted more than 1,800 mums in the park and created a 50th Anniversary display, a large heart with a “50” in the middle, all made from mum plants.
“It really is a very special celebration this year,” Resso said.