Ellen Lola Ethel Begley nee Jillings' smile is still as bright as the day she was picked as the first Hastings Blossom Queen. Photo/ Warren Buckland.
Ellen Jillings gave a big smile to the cameras when she was picked as the first Hastings Blossom Queen in 1953, and hasn't stopped smiling since.
The sprightly 80-year-old, Ellen (Ellen Lola Ethel Begley nee Jillings), said the first blossom festival was a massive event, done with pomp and significantceremony.
"I was 14 when I was hand-picked by Sir James Wattie to be on the float, it was around the time I won a dancing championship in South Canterbury.
"I was the queen of my float.
"My father worked as head engineer for Wattie's and he was asked if I could go on the float.
"My mother made the dress I wore for the float. There was a little girl on the float with me and she was strapped into the shell [for safety reasons], just in case something happened."
She said it was "quite an experience" and everyone from across Hawke's Bay was there to watch.
"Trains used to come from Gisborne for the festival, the whole of Hastings went out to enjoy.
"All the factories, shops, schools, all had floats for the festival. There were quite a lot of floats. They used to have a prize for best float."
She recalled streets being closed to cater to food stalls and knick- knack stalls making it quite an attractive event "which used to bring people out".
Unfortunately, after her role in the festival in '53, she didn't get a chance to regularly go to future festivals.
"I got married when I was 18, and by the time I was 21 I had three children. I really didn't have time to go to the festivals.
"Occasionally I used to take my children to watch the parade when they were young."
She believes the festival now isn't like it used to be back in her days. Certainly it's calmed down since the '60 became famous for its so-called 'riot'.
The float parade had been cancelled because of wet weather and this, combined with an influx of young people in the city centre, overcrowding in hotels and overbearing crowd-control tactics (like the use of fire-hoses) created a situation where fights readily broke out.