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Stock group photo of the Sweet Tea Queens
The Boss Sweet Tea Queen
(BSTQ) blows a kiss
at the Spartanburg Spring Fling 2004
Sweet Tea Queens logo 500pixel jpg
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Who are
the Sweet Tea Queens?
The Sweet Tea Queens are a group of women based in Spartanburg, S.C.,
dedicated to the pursuit of fun. The Boss Sweet Tea Queen, Carolyn, leads a group of about ten area women. They all wear matching
costumes and accessories, consisting of a green sequin “beauty queen”
dress, tiara, boots, sunglasses and accessories. The queens come from all
walks of life; a number of them are notable business and organizational
leaders.
Background of the
Sweet Tea Queens
The Sweet Tea Queens are a chapter of the Sweet Potato Queens, based in
Jackson, MS. Each chapter assumes its own theme and designs its own
costumes. Some of the chapters participate in parades and fundraisers in
their local communities. The Sweet Potato Queens concept has been
explained and made popular by a series of books by Jill Conner Browne of
Jackson, who came up with the idea in 1982. It is a belief in a
sisterhood, promoting self esteem and positive thinking appealing to
mostly middle-aged middle-class women. In 2005, almost ten thousand women
dressed up in costumes and came to Jackson for their St. Patrick’s Day
parade, proceeds from which benefits a children’s hospital in the area.
The Sweet Tea Queens from Spartanburg are a very active chapter which has
repeatedly appeared at Spartanburg’s Spring Fling to raise funds for Relay
for Life. Among the parades on the queens’ regular schedule are the
Cowpens Mighty Moo parade, the Gaffney Peach Festival, Hendersonville,
NC’s King Apple parade, and the Spartanburg Christmas Parade. They also
join other parades and appearances in the area as their schedules permit.
In addition to the group of queens, several of the STQ's husbands and
boyfriends are associated with the chapter by attending meetings and
assisting with other chapter functions.
Having been compared to other groups like the Red Hat Society and the YaYa
Sisterhood, the Sweet Tea Queens see themselves as “belles gone bad”. In
their “regular lives”, they are teachers, nurses and business leaders. But
when they put on the green sequins, these mothers and wives become
disco-dancing “showgirls” for a few hours and have more fun than many do
in a lifetime.
Types of events and appearances
The Sweet Tea Queens have their own professional parade float to ferry
them through local events, featuring the queens dancing to music that
emanates from an on-board sound system. They also appear on behalf of
charity organizations at fundraising events, often staffing a booth or
running a contest. In addition, the queens often make appearances at area
malls.
Purpose of the events
The purpose of the parade for the Sweet Tea Queens is to have fun and
raise awareness of the group so that continuing participation in charity
fundraisers is more successful.
Media Opportunities
The Sweet Tea Queens are available as a group or individual members for
print and electronic media interviews. They are also available for on-site
appearances and speeches. Since the Queens are a non-profit organization
dedicated to having fun and helping others, they do not have a profit
motivation, such as selling products. They do base their organization on
the Sweet Potato Queens® books, however, and you should expect the books
to enter the conversation. In fact, that's when it gets fun!
Contact
Carolyn, Boss Sweet Tea Queen at
carolyn@sweetteaqueens.com.
Also visit our website at
www.sweetteaqueens.com .
The above info (in slightly different form) is available as a MS Word file
here.
Other graphics are available on request. Please see our
legal page for usage and permissions.
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