2010 Parents’ Contract
Getting Started
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1. |
Full
cooperation is expected at all times from the royalty member, his/her
parents, all family members & anyone acting on royalty member's
behalf. Guidelines are not open for
debate. Be aware that no 2 years are
alike & that revisions are made to the contracts. |
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2. |
Parents/family members need
to be aware of the guidelines in the royalty contract and abide by them. |
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3. |
This contract is not all
inclusive. Decisions of the Queens' director and/or the London Strawberry
Festival Board are final. |
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4. |
Parents must attend
contestants meeting with contestant prior to competition. Contestants must agree to royalty contract.
Contestant's parents must agree to parents' contract and royalty contract
before a contestant may participate in the pageant. There will be no exceptions to meeting
attendance. |
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5. |
A meeting will be held with
the royalty and their parents to acquaint them with expectations answer
questions about travel, luncheon, etiquette, etc. Attendance is mandatory for the royalty
member and at least one parent.
Failure to attend will result in having to appear before the board
before title may be worn & probable removal from the court. Babies & their parents do not have to
attend this meeting. |
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6. |
Notarized medical release,
liability forms, contracts & all other paperwork must be returned to the
Queen chairperson before any member of royalty will be permitted to attend
festivals or events. A copy will be provided
to any chaperone traveling with a royalty other than own daughter/son. We also request that other family members
and adults traveling with royalty provide a health statement for travel
emergency purposes. |
Appearance/Dress
Code
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7. |
The queens' director has
the right to refuse to let royalty participate in any parade, luncheon or
event due to dress code violations/appearance or inappropriate behavior. |
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8. |
Royalty members will need to
have at least 1 formal. Boys need a suit or dress clothes. Cooler events
require the purchase of a white cape for girls/black cape for boys, black
slacks, and sweater (red for Queens/kings, green or cream for attendants). You will be given the cost of the cape
& all capes will be ordered/made by the same
person. Money will be due by August
1. If you choose not to purchase a
cape, you will not be permitted to attend cool weather events, typically
September through April. |
Travel
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9. |
Parents must be willing and
able to travel with their son/daughter as he/she represents the London
Strawberry Festival at many other state wide festivals. Royalty will be
expected to participate in other promotional activities representing the
London Strawberry Festival such as pageants, luncheons, parades, speaking
engagements, interviews, etc. Most of
these events/festivals will be on Friday, Saturday, & Sunday. May through October are
very busy months. There will also be
some events in the winter, especially around the holidays. There are events
that are restricted to specific court members, meaning not all members will
be permitted to attend. Royalty must
have at least half of the travel requirements met by Jan. 1, keeping in mind
all of the close events will be over by this time. |
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10. |
The Queen must participate
in 30 events & the Jr. Miss must participate in 20 events. At least 15 of the Queen's events & 7
of the Jr. Miss's events must be luncheon & parade combinations. Most of these should be OFEA events,
especially for the Queen. Jr. & Miss courts may travel with other London
Strawberry families on an occasional basis, however, the royalty on the
Little & Young/Prince courts travel with a parent/guardian. All
attendants, Prince, Little Mr., Young Miss & Little Miss are required to
attend 7 events. |
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11. |
Mr. & Miss Shortcake
are encouraged, but not required, to attend at least 3 of the following
events: any London parade, London Old
Fashioned Christmas, London Arts Festival, London First Fridays, Ox Roast,
West Jefferson Christmas, West Jefferson 4th of July, Mt Sterling
Good Ole Days, Plain City Steam Show, Plain City 4th of July or
South Vienna Corn Festival. Special
permission from the Queens' director must be obtained to attend any other
events. Shortcakes not attending at
least 3 events will not get to do a window or attend luncheon. Shortcakes riding on the float will be at
the discretion of the Queens director. |
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12. |
Babies may participate in the
following parades only: London Strawberry Festival, Ox Roast, |
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13. |
Photos are required as
proof of attendance when queens' director is not in attendance. The royalty member must be in the photo at
a recognizable site (sign, stage, luncheon) while at the festival. Photos will also be used for slide
show. Photo shopped photos are not
acceptable. All digital photos have
imbedded date & editing info. |
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14. |
Parents must be willing to
assist with transportation and driving during parades. All drivers must be at least 21, provide a
copy of a valid drivers' license & auto insurance to the Queen’s
director. Drivers pulling the float
are responsible for making sure decorations, fire extinguisher, first aid
kit, festival & OFEA signs are with the float before leaving for
event. Be sure that emergency items
(insulin, sting kits, etc) needed by an individual, are with the driver. Some parades are very large & may take
to long to locate parents in an emergency.
Drivers need to arrange a meeting spot with other parents after the
parade & should have the parents’ cell numbers. Non-court members & parents cannot be
on the float or in the back of the truck /van. If a court member needs close supervision
of an adult in the back of vehicle, the court member should not be on the
float. |
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15. |
The queens' director has
the right to ban any adult from driving royalty in parade or chaperoning royalty
at any event due to safety concerns, complaints from other directors or
parents or inappropriate behavior of the adult around the royalty or at an
event. |
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16. |
Parents of anyone riding on
the float in an event are responsible for making sure royalty members have
their name signs, are appropriately dressed with title and for helping with
any float set up, tear down or decorating required for the event. Do not "drop off & run. Royalty may be suspended from riding float. |
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17. |
Travel expenses (meals,
gas/mileage, rooms, souvenirs, etc) are the responsibility of your family. |
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18. |
Parents need to contact director
at least 3 days prior to event, not last second, for location & event
specifics. |
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19. |
Parents are expected to serve
as chaperones at events. There should
be at least 1 adult chaperone at every event, regardless of the age of the
court members. There must be a paid
chaperone in a luncheon if there is a court member in attendance that is on
the Jr. Miss or younger courts. Some
festivals require at least 1 paid chaperone even for the Queen's court or for
the queen's meal to be free. |
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20. |
Chaperones MUST PAY to
attend luncheon, even if you do not eat, as most festivals have space
limitations. You may wait outside
& not pay as long as there is at least 1 chaperone inside the
luncheon. Sometimes organizers will
invite unpaid chaperones into the luncheon.
In this situation, it is ok to go in. |
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21. |
All festival/event registrations
and contact with other festivals/events must be made through the Queen's
director. Individual families are not
permitted to submit registrations or contact other events directly. Registration and travel guidelines of
hosting event must be followed. No
exceptions. |
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22. |
Event fees always need to
be paid in advance. Checks or money
orders made payable to the hosting event must be to the Queens' director by
the set deadline. Avoid paying by cash. Registration fees are non-refundable after
they have been mailed. If a
reservation is not submitted with a payment, it may be rejected by the
hosting event; therefore it will not be done.
If the royalty member registered for the free meal is a no show,
he/she will be billed for the cost of the meal. If the Queen is a no show at 2 events, she
will be required to give a $20 deposit to the London Strawberry Festival
before she will be permitted to register for future events. |
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23. |
All invitations received to
another event/festival belong to the London Strawberry Festival and must be
given to the Queens' director immediately.
Invitations are not to be kept for an individual. |
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24. |
Events & deadlines are
posted on the web site. It is your
responsibility to check the site & meet the deadlines. The Queens’ director
is not responsible for calling you or for reminding you of deadlines. The Queens' director will rarely notify you
directly of up coming events.
Occasionally e-mail, phone & printed lists may be used. Check the
web site weekly for updates & for any changes before leaving for an event
or meeting. www.londonstrawberryfestival.com Click Royalty schedules/deadlines. |
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25. |
The Strawberry Festival
does not pay registration fees. A few
parades charge entry fees & therefore are not required. If court members wish to attend events
requiring entry fees it is up to the parents to pay these fees. |
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26. |
Awards (ribbons, cash,
trophies or other items) from other events given to the festival will remain
property of the London Strawberry Festival and must be given to the Queens'
director immediately. Trophies/plaques may sometimes be given to the highest
ranking court member in attendance.
Monetary awards will be applied to the Queens' program. If an individual award (spirit, costume,
congeniality, etc) is presented, the royalty member may keep it but must
notify the Queens' director. |
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27. |
All royalty, except babies
& shortcakes, will be required to purchase magnetic signs. These will be ordered by the Queens' director
only. |
Misc.
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27. |
Parents of Royalty members
give their consent for their son or daughter's photos to be used in publicity
of the London Strawberry Festival. Be
aware many events are broadcast live on TV and/or radio. |
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28. |
Parents must be willing to
assist with Queen’s fundraisers.
If orders & money are collected, orders with the full payment,
must be given to the Queen’s director or received in the London
Strawberry Festival PO Box 434 by the due date for order to be placed. Parents must assist in the Shortcake tent
and information booth. |
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29. |
All volunteers 18 &
over will be required to submit their social security number to the City of
London for a felony warrant & sexual offender background check. All parents & court members must abide
by regulations imposed by laws/ordnances/government. |
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30. |
All parents and interested
adults are expected to assist with the festival operations during the royalty
member's year of reign and are invited to attend the LSF Board meetings. |
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31. |
Permission must be obtained
from the LSF board of directors before contacting anyone about donations or
sponsorships. |
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32. |
Do not make or have buttons
made using any other festival or event name or logo. |
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33. |
You must get permission
from the board of directors before using the LSF name or logo on any
items. A copyright &/or trademark
is held on both. |
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34. |
Failure to follow these guidelines
by any family member or anyone acting on the royalty member's behalf, will result in the royalty member loosing her/his
title. |
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35. |
Royalty member must provide
her/his social security number to the Queens’ director in order to
receive your savings bond or scholarship.
Girls/boys failing to provide their social security number by June 1
will forfeit his/her bond/scholarship.
Savings bonds will be ordered 2 weeks following the festival &
scholarships will be available at that time.
This is to ensure that all duties are complete & all festival
items are returned to the festival.
Royalty member or parent/guardian must sign for receipt of
scholarship/bond. Babies &
shortcakes do not receive savings bonds/scholarships. |
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36. |
The Queen’s parents
will be given a parents pass-down book.
Parents are responsible for making updates in it and turning it over
to the new Queen's parents at the end of their daughter’s reign. If possible e-mail a copy of additions made
to the queens director. |
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37. |
Each royalty member, except
babies or shortcakes not attending luncheon, must contribute a minimum of 3
items for luncheon door prizes and an item for each gift bag. Items do not
have to be expensive. Individually wrapped
candy is fine. Plan for 250 gift
bags. Shortcakes who have traveled
& wish to attend luncheon must contribute door prizes. |
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38. |
Parents & family
members need to assist with our luncheon.
Duties include guest check in, selling of charms and buttons, set up,
preparation & serving of meal and clean up. This does not apply to baby parents. |
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39. |
If a check is returned for
any item or event, you will not be permitted to register for any other event
until the check has been covered and all associated fees have been paid. No other checks will be accepted; money
orders will be required. |
Expectations &
Behavior
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40. |
The queens' director has
the right to refuse to let royalty participate in any parade, luncheon or
event due to dress code violations/appearance or inappropriate behavior. |
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41. |
There will be 3-4 mandatory
parent meetings during the year. There
will usually be one in the fall, one in Jan. or Feb., one in May, & one
just before the Strawberry Festival.
These will be scheduled as needed. |
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42. |
Adults must refrain from
belittling/criticizing a court member, even jokingly. |
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43. |
Any
actions or statements (verbal, printed or posted, including internet) that are
detrimental to the London Strawberry Festival made by family or anyone acting
on the royalty member's behalf will not be tolerated and will result in loss
of title. |
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44. |
The use of profanity, inappropriate
ethnic/racial jokes/slurs is prohibited when escorting royalty or
representing the London Strawberry Festival in anyway. |
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45. |
Problems/conflicts between
royalty members, families and adults should be left at home and only discussed
with the Queens' director if a private resolution cannot be reached. Gossip is to be avoided. Inappropriate comments, gestures, or
profanity to any member of the board court or others while at event either as
a court parent or chaperone will not be tolerated & will require
appearance before the board. This may
result in removal of son/daughter from the court or banning of the adult or
royalty member at events. |
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46. |
The judgment of the Queens'
director is final in any and all conflicts involving the Queens'
program. Rules/guidelines are not open
for debate & apply to everyone. |
Royalty parents will receive an official
copy that must be signed and notarized at the royalty meeting.
