Miss Swedish Queen Maddie Price spoke with the Thorsby Town Council during its April 16 meeting.

Price discussed her plans for some initiatives to help promote through her position as Miss Swedish Queen.

Part of her plans is to plant a Japanese Maple Tree in Richard Wood Park for decorative purposes. The council offered to help anyway that it can.

“Sounds like a great idea,” Thorsby Mayor Robert Hight said.

According to Price, the idea behind a Japanese Maple Tree is its reddish leaves, which match Thorsby’s school colors.

Some of the things that Price has done since becoming Miss Swedish Queen include dressing up as a pirate during Jemison’s Fairytale Show and taking part in the Read Across America program at both Thorsby School and Chilton Christian Academy.

Other future plans include collecting teddy bears for the Thorsby Police Department and planting flowers around the front of the high school.

“I was thinking of ways to leave our mark as Swedish Queens, and I thought that would be a really good way to show our appreciation for the Town of Thorsby and this opportunity,” Price said.

It was the first time that Price had experienced speaking as part of the agenda at a council meeting.

“It’s been so much fun meeting new people,” Price said. “It has all been about learning new things and responsibility.”

Price feels a special family connection to being named Miss Swedish Queen, after her mother held the title in 1991.

In other news from the meeting:

• Hight asked the council if it would be interested in putting speed bumps along Franklin Street near Richard Wood Park after concerns from residents about speeding. It was dropped after lack of a motion.
• Public Works Director Terry Jackson removed the rumble strips along Franklin Street following complaints from residents about the noise that they made when vehicles ran over them. The rumble strips had been on the road since November 2017.
• The Thorsby Police Department is going to have a new radio system installed in the future. A set date has yet to be decided.
• The council approved Kyle Prather to start at the beginning pay scale class with the Thorsby Fire Department. Prather recently graduated from the academy and joined the department in early April.
• The Thorsby Fire Department will be blocking off a portion of Indiana Avenue on April 30 in order to create a controlled area as they burn down a condemned house.
• The Thorsby Fire Department provided the council members with a report that showed the department had saved the town $213,000 in grants in recent years. According to Zach Ham with TFD, his goal is to make it an annual report.
• It was approved to pay the bills and transfer the funds.