Friday, March 29, 2024

Penelope (Penny) Carpenter Ressler honored to serve again as Royal Lady

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Being named Royal Lady is a unique Leavenworth honor. No one has earned that honor twice - until now. Penelope (Penny) Carpenter Ressler was chosen and accepted the nomination again for 2021 because COVID-19 essentially shut down the Northwest Festival circuit in 2020.

Penny did not earn the honor a second time just because she missed her opportunity for her day in the sun. She earned her second chance at the honor because her record of community service is tough to match. Locally she is a Past President of Leavenworth Rotary, The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum and the Washington State Autumn Leaf Festival Association. She was a founding board member of the Upper Valley Museum, Barn Beach Reserve, P.E.O. Chapter JF and Icicle Center for the Arts. She has served on the Cascade Education Foundation Board, was a member of the Leavenworth Women’s Exchange and served on the Parish Council of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church.

Penny’s list of community activities and honors also includes being the Founder of the Junior Service League, now Women’s Service League, and Founder of the Festival of Trees in Wenatchee.

She has received numerous awards for her professional and community service activities including being named “Business Woman of the Year” by the Wenatchee Business and Professional Women. Penny is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America and she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Penelope, Penny, Carpenter is a native Oregonian and graduate of the University of Oregon. Her husband John says “she bleeds green and yellow”.

Thirty-two years ago, she and her husband John were married in the backyard of their Leavenworth home and they have remained dedicated Leavenworth residents ever since. John had discovered Leavenworth on one of his travels and he and Penny say they fell in love with this beautiful little Bavarian Village.

She soon discovered the Autumn Leaf Festival Association and she and her daughter, Whitney, began walking in parades in support of this group of dedicated citizens.

Penny’s commitment to ALFA grew over the years as she became a Board member and eventually President. As President she attended all of the Northwest Hosting Association festivals in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, Canada.

The Washington State Autumn Leaf Festival Association is the oldest local festival. It was created to put the Bavarian Village on the map and imprint the residents love of their town on the hearts of people across the northwest.

Penny’s professional life includes an extensive background in the hospitality industry including having opened 3 new hotels. When she came to Leavenworth, she took her resume down to the Red Lion and she said the phone was ringing when she got home. Penny became the new Director of Catering.

Penny left Red Lion in 2002 to take the position of Executive Director of Colonial Vista Retirement Apartments and Assisted Living. She retired from Colonial Vista in 2011.

Her daughter, Whitney said of her mother, “Wherever she has lived, my mother has been involved. It is impossible to count the number of people who have benefitted from her genuine and contagious enthusiasm and her belief in the importance of giving back to her community.”

Penny said she is anxious to get out on the parade circuit to represent our community and invite all those she meets to come and experience our little Bavarian Village and all that it has to offer.

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