Photo Courtesy of Joe Lozoya
2025 Florida Strawberry Festival court member Olivia Paige Lawton, daughter of Jacob and Kinsey Lawton and Jamie and Jeremiah Brown, is a junior at Durant High School and dual-enrolled at Hillsborough Community College. Her life’s ambitions are to live life to the fullest and embrace opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the world.
One of those contributions is becoming an agricultural attorney with a focus on succession. “I want to protect the farmland of our community and help farmers plan for the transfer of their farm ownership and operations to the next generation,” she said.
As a fourth generation farmer, her agricultural roots run as deep as her desire for knowledge about her hometown and its heritage. “One cool fact I learned is that a strawberry has 200 seeds in it and there can be even more depending on how big it is,” she said. “Isn’t that cool?”
Folks can learn more cool facts from Lawton when they run into her at the festival.
Why did you want to be a part of the Florida Strawberry Festival Court?
I’ve just always wanted to be on the court. I saw them at the festival when I was younger and knew I wanted to be a part of that. I love relationships and making new friends. I don’t know a stranger. It’s always been a dream of mine to create memories while serving Plant City and doing it with four new best friends.
What advice would you give to other young women who might want to seek this role?
Be yourself. Two years ago I never would have thought I was able to get up on that stage but now I got to participate in the pageant on that stage and I was confident in myself. I want to say to every young girl considering this to be confident in yourself because you can do so much more than you think you can. Being a young woman, it’s hard to put yourself out there but don’t be afraid to do it. I’ve seen so much love from the community so just put yourself out there and be confident because you can do it.
What are you most looking forward to about your year on the court?
The number one thing I’m excited for is Special Smiles Day. I attended it with my Best Buddies at my school but this year I’ll get to experience it as a Florida Strawberry Festival court member. It’s so special to me because I love being a part of the Best Buddies Club. During Special Smiles Day you get to experience the festival in a way that won’t be overstimulating for some people For me, it’s nice because it’ s a day you get to think about why the festival is here and it’s for our community and everyone in it.
Who’s your role model and why?
It’s really hard for me to pick one person because I have four parents. My mom, stepdad, dad and stepmom have all come together to become this huge family unit for me. I know a lot of people aren’t as fortunate to have that and I just feel so lucky to be able to experience that and have them in my life. They work together for me and it’s so special. They’ve taught me how to be confident. have poise and to be humble. I’m so grateful for all they do for me.
What is a core memory you have
attending the Florida Strawberry Festival?
I started showing pigs in sixth grade and without my Ag teacher from Mulrennan Middle School I wouldn’t have been able to do that. She taught me so much about showing a pig and taught me everything I needed to do to take care of it. My dad taught me too. He won Grand Champion when he was younger. It really made me want to go out there and do my best. I earned first place. I always looked up to my dad and my Ag teacher and they told me to chase my dreams. It’s a lot of work getting out there. Those pigs run from you and they don’t listen all the time. They have a mind of their own and it takes a lot to put yourself out there and do it so I really love that memory.
What’s your favorite food at the Florida Strawberry Festival?
I guess you can call me a foodie. I love food and talk about it all the time. It makes me happy. When it comes to the festival I eat so much. I come every day just to eat the food but my favorite walking-around food is the Fiske fries. You have to get them with the malt vinegar and salt. It comes in a bucket so you can walk around the festival eating the fries. That’s my first favorite. My second favorite is the build-your-own strawberry shortcake stand. You can’t go wrong and it’s delicious. It’s my sweet treat and then with the Fiske fries it’s a perfect combination.
What do you hope to gain by being a member of the 2025 Florida Strawberry Festival Court?
I’ve already learned so much just in this short amount of time. The love we get from the community is amazing but I can’t wait to learn more about the community and to get involved. When you’re involved you learn so much about everyone and I just want to take it all in and be a part of it.
What makes Plant City so special?
I am a fourth generation farmer in this town and I feel like that history is cool to see because my family’s come a long way.We have our own business, Lawton Family Farms. It used to be Dixie Growers (that was my grandfather’s farm). He really set the stage for me too and it’s cool to see that our family is evolving and so many other families in Plant City are evolving into something new and modern. It’s not something people get to see outside of Plant City. Everybody is becoming their own people and our town lets us do that because our community comes together to support each other. It’s also important to see our agricultural side of our community shine through.
