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Centre freshman Tara Lynn Poe to represent Kentucky at D.C. festival
RELEASED: March 28, 2002
DANVILLE, KY-While some college students across the country will be hitting the beaches this week, Tara Lynn Poe's spring break will include meeting President Bush and foreign dignitaries.
Poe will visit Washington D.C. March 30-April 6 during Centre's spring break to represent Kentucky in the 90th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. She was invited to the event after being named the 2002 Kentucky Cherry Blossom Princess.
Poe's role in the festival, which celebrates the friendship between Japan and the United States, will be to serve as an ambassador for Kentucky. This year's 2002 festival marks the 90th celebration of the original gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to the people of Washington, D.C. in 1912. The blossoms, along with the festival's numerous cultural, community and sporting events, attract more than 700,000 visitors annually to our nation's capital. The prime minister of Japan and Japan's ambassador to the United States will be present for the celebration.
The events in which the student representatives participate focus on educational and leadership opportunities and also serve as an introduction to our democratic system of government.
"This is an unbelievable experience and I'm very excited,” said Poe, a freshman from Paris, Ky. “There's a lot of preparation involved. I've been studying Japanese culture. I think I'm really lucky in that I'm going to Washington D.C. during this important time in our country's history.”
Poe will have the opportunity to meet President Bush and present First Lady Laura Bush with her favorite children's book for the Library Foundation. She will also be hosted by Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, at a luncheon and be honored at Congressional and State receptions with Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Ernie Fletcher, both of Kentucky, as her escorts.
Vice President Cheney and Lynne Cheney were each at Centre College in October of 2000 when the school hosted the 2000 Vice Presidential Debate.
For more on the festival, visit http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/.
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