Fifth-generation Suttons Bay farmer Erin Eckerle wasn’t named Cherry Queen 2024 at the National Cherry Festival last week, but she loved every minute of the cherry experience.
“It was a crazy experience. They had us up usually at 6 a.m. every day. Depending on the day, we were doing activities until 10 p.m. ... we had to attend almost every event from the National Cherry Festival,” Eckerle said. “We’d go to all the children’s events. We’d go hang out in the open space when there wasn’t a current event going on. We went to the amusement park and got to ride some of the rides. We participated in the pie-eating contest and the pit-spitting contest.”
Eckerle, 24, grew up in Suttons Bay, graduated from Petoskey High School, and returned to the area after college. Eckerle is a local dentist assistant in Suttons Bay. Erin is the daughter of Brian Eckerle and works for her uncles Kirk and Jim Eckerle. Eckerle made it through the initial round of 14 people to the final four.
