Harrison County native Rosalyn Queen has lived a life filled with love of heritage, service, family and pride in her community. Queen, a Bridgeport resident, is one of the founding members of the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, though she credits her colleague Merle Moore for having the idea to pursue it.

“I’ve been involved from the very beginning, since 1979. We chartered in 1978, worked like troupers and were ready by Labor Day 1979. Our main mission was to preserve and present our heritage. We were afraid our children wouldn’t know what our traditions were,” she said. Queen served as chairman of the festival from 1982 to 1983, and because she loved the festival so much and wanted to see it succeed, she left her job as a Harrison County assistant assessor, a position she held for seven years, to become the festival’s executive director.