By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
The 114th Strawberry Festival, themed “Peace, Love and Strawberries,” arrives as the world recovers from the effects of a pandemic. Finding peace and showing love may be some of the most valuable traits a princess could possess this year.
Princess Libby Jorgensen finds peace in prayer and family. Being outside or taking her dogs on a walk also brings her calm.
World peace, however, might be a more difficult and impossible task, she said, because everyone is different.
“I think the biggest thing is to just be open-minded,” she said. “There will be disagreements or things you might have a conflict about.
“You never know what someone else is going through, so put that at ease and realize that not everything will be perfect. I really think treating people the way you want to be treated is the biggest thing.”
The 18-year-old shows love through acts of service, and feels loved when others help her or speak words of affirmation.
Her family includes parents Sonja and Seth Jorgensen, and brother Dylan.
Jorgensen plans to receive her certified nurse assistant (CNA) license this summer and attend Linn-Benton Community College for nursing.
“Once I finish that,” she said, “I’d love to either work in the neonatal intensive care unit, or labor and delivery, or just anywhere with kids.”
The Strawberry Festival court princesses who visited her elementary school inspired Jorgensen to become a princess.
“I think that being able to have a positive impact on the younger generation and being someone that they can look up to is really important for me because you never know what kind of role model kids have – or if they even have role models,” she said. “I just want to be someone that my family and people in the community can look up to and be proud of.”
The Lebanon High School senior has participated in basketball, assisted in summer schools and outdoor enrichment at the Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Santiam, joined the National Honor Society and served as part of class leadership. She also enjoys baking, paddle boarding, kayaking, fishing and “overall just spending time with my friends and family” as much as possible.
When thinking about the city, Jorgensen appreciates how businesses and organizations hold true to its motto, “The city that friendliness built,” by connecting themselves to its variety of residents.
“One thing I’ve noticed about Lebanon is that it’s definitely grown in population over the past few years, but it still feels like a small town,” she said, “and I’m just proud to be part of a community like that that’s always supporting each other.”
Jorgensen also looks up to her brother, who works with the Lebanon Fire District. Regardless of a car crash or fire’s severity, she said, he’s saving people and making a “huge impact” in their lives.
“He treated me so great all of my life, and he still really is one of my best friends,” she said.
But she also appreciates her parents, who devoted so much time to their children, attending their activities and working many hours to support them.
“I’m just so grateful for all they’ve done for my brother and me because they are just the most caring and selfless people,” she said.
Now, as a princess, she’s witnessed the support her fellow court members’ parents have invested, helping to build their float.
“Being able to really see what all goes into the town of Lebanon, you can really see how tight-knit of a community it is,” she said.
As part of her many royal duties, this blonde-haired princess has visited several elementary schools, which she finds to be one of her more enjoyable responsibilities.
“I love seeing all the kids light up when they see you walk into the cafeteria and getting to talk to them about their day, because even though it’s such a brief and short encounter we have with each other,” she said.
“They’re making such a huge impact on me and my life, so I just hope to be able to do the same for them in that short amount of time together.”