Sophie McKenzie - Central Highlands 2026 Sunflower Queen

01/06/2026

A few weeks ago, after all the excitement of the festival had settled, Liana and I spent a beautiful afternoon at the sunflower fields at Kiely’s Farm watching the sunset and reflecting on what an incredible journey it had been. A huge thank you to Fiona Simpson for capturing these special photos for us. 💛🌻

While the Central Highlands Easter Sunflower Festival may be over for another year, the sunflower adventure isn’t finished just yet. In just a few weeks, Liana and I will be heading to Canada for the Altona Manitoba Sunflower Festival, with our flights officially booked for mid July. We are so excited to experience another sunflower festival on the other side of the world.🌎

Stay tuned as we share our Canadian sunflower adventure over the coming weeks. 🇨🇦✈️

09/04/2026

What a packed week! Now that the Sunflower Festival week has wrapped up I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who supported me throughout the Sunflower Queen Quest, your support has meant so much! A BIG thankyou to the Rotary for all the help and support you show me and the community. It’s been such a special experience getting to fundraise for you. 💛🌻💙

I’m so proud and excited to represent the Central Highlands both in our community and over in Canada this year as Sunflower Queen 🤍

The week also came with a heavy heart. I want to pay my respects to Ian.B , His loss has been deeply felt across the whole community, and I feel so lucky to have worked with him and experienced his kindness, support, and encouragement. I truly couldn’t have done it without you 🖤

Throughout this journey, I have been proud to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, supporting the incredible work they do for rural and remote communities. Even though my time fundraising for the RFDS patient transfer facility project is over, I’m so excited to keep helping the community in many other ways where needed! ❤️

A special thank you to my sponsors: Stadium Premier Fitness Emerald, Raelene Bock at Quirky Garden Art, Tori Kavanagh at Art by Tori, Patty Schwartz, Emerald Party Hire, Rural Endo, The Mayfair Emerald , Mitre 10, Roses and Beans,Intersport Emerald, Hooked Fish and Chips, Route 66 Motor Inn, CrossFit 4720, Align Strength & Wellness, Escape Float Therapy, and Emerald Car Wash.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey so far, I can’t wait to keep sharing the rest of my experience 🌻

02/04/2026

02/04/2026

Such A Fun Night !!

11/03/2026

What a beautiful morning celebrating International Women’s Day at my Women’s Morning Tea on Sunday💐

I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came along to support the event. It was so special to see our community come together to connect, share stories and celebrate the strength of women in our region. Your support means so much and every ticket, raffle and donation helps contribute to the funds being raised through my Sunflower Festival Queen campaign for the Emerald Rotary Club in support of the RFDS Patient Transfer Facility.

A special thank you to our wonderful guest speaker Ella Brady from QENDO and Rural Endo for sharing her story and helping raise awareness about endometriosis and the challenges of accessing healthcare in rural and regional communities.

Thank you also to Ella McKenzie for providing beautiful live music and creating such a lovely atmosphere for the morning.

I would also like to sincerely thank our generous sponsors who helped make this event possible:
Stadium Premier Fitness
Raelene Bock from Quirky Garden Art
Tori Kavanagh from Art by Tori
Patty Shwartz
Emerald Party Hire

Your generosity and support truly helped bring this event together and I am so grateful.

Thank you to the Rotary and everyone who helped behind the scenes and to all who attended and supported the event. I feel incredibly grateful to be part of such a supportive community. 💛 🌻

02/03/2026

🌻Last Chance this week to get your tickets for such an amazing event supporting women! Limited tickets available so book now 🌸🌷🍰
https://www.trybooking.com/DJMDE

23/01/2026

Last Night I had the privilege of having dinner with the Rotary Club of Emerald where they presented me with a check for all the money I raised at our can sort a couple weeks ago.

With the help of the Mayfair, Emerald Airport, the Rotary and members of the community who all donated many cans for the cause. We ended uo breaking the record with 19 big bags full of cans and 10 big pods of glass bottles. Overall, we collected over 27,000 cans and bottles! Giving us a total of $2701.60 raised!!!!!

I’m so thankful for all the help given in collecting cans and sorting them all. None of this would be possible without all the generosity of the community. This money is going to a great cause, the RFDS patient Transfer facility at Emerald Airport. ✈️

10/01/2026

Big Saturday Morning Sorting Cans !!

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out this morning sorting a massive amount of cans and bottles. With the help of Rotary, friends and family we managed to fill 19 big bags of cans plus countless containers of bottles. 💙💛

They’re now off to be counted and we cannot wait to see how much was raised for this amazing cause.

I honestly could not have done this without all of you. A big thank you as well to the Mayfair and the Qantas Lounge, and to everyone else who donated their cans. Your support means more than you know.

Our fingers are definitely feeling it after pulling tabs and twisting bottle caps all morning, but knowing it helps create wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs for kids makes every sore finger worth it.

So grateful for this community and everyone who continues to support my fundraising journey! ✈️