Travel Back to Glenwood Springs' 1966 Strawberry Queen Tryouts

A Western Colorado mystery has been solved. Thanks to you, a few of these women have had their identities revealed. Take a trip to back to Glenwood Springs 1966 and the Strawberry Queen tryouts.

The photo above was included in a gallery post featuring Robert Grant photographs. I inherited Bob's photo collection 20 years ago, and have spent the last two decades trying to track down the identity of those pictured. Thanks to your information, three of the Strawberry Queen hopefuls pictured here have been identified.

What exactly is the Strawberry Days Festival? According to uncovercolorado.com:

Held annually since 1898, Strawberry Days is one of the longest running festivals in Colorado! And they’ll be back once again for their 123rd year (in 2020) to celebrate this delicious berry.

The festival features the following events:

Strawberry Days Parade
Main Stage Entertainment
Arts & Crafts Fair/Food Court
FamilyFest
Miss Strawberry Days
Strawberry Patch Kids
Cool Zone

It seems everyone agrees the dark-haired woman on the far left is none other than Donna White. Most agree the woman second from left is Mary Beth Westlake. Also pictured, although I'm not sure where in the lineup, is Cindy Demille.

These identities were revealed in a very roundabout way. A post was published yesterday featuring a photo of a young girl who had just had about 12-inches of hair cut off. This is from a framed photo my grandpa, Bob Grant, used in a photo exhibit in New York City decades ago. I'm trying to find out who the little girl is so the photo can be given to her or her family. Attached to that post was the photo gallery from which the Strawberry Queen photo was included.

The images from Glenwood Springs made the rounds via social media, and ultimately found their way to the "You Know You're From Glenwood Spring When You..." Facebook page. From there, people started to chime in with info as to the identities of the women pictured.

Let's keep this going. There are several more women in that photo. Do you know who they are? In this case, the photo was scanned from a negative. I regret I won't be able to provide a print to anyone since I don't have a print to offer.

This is fun. I would like to continue sharing images like this. My grandpa, while a great guy and awesome photographer, never wrote anything down. I have a 50-year long career of images in my storage room, and no clue as to who people are or where or when the picture was taken. Please help spread the word and let's see if we can identify the other Strawberry Queen contestants.