The weather may have been dreary Sunday, but that didn’t stop the people of the Panther Valley from celebrating the 94th annual Shower of Roses at the Shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower of Jesus, in the New Columbus section of Nesquehoning.

The event kicked off with a spaghetti dinner in Madonna Hall before a Mass was held in honor of the shrine’s patron saint. Amelia Degler was crowned the 2026 Rose Queen by her other, Angelina and the Rev. Thomas Osei Gyau at the end of the Mass. Degler is a junior at Marian Catholic High School and the first person in the history of the Shower of Roses to serve as Rose Queen twice. She also had been named Rose Queen in 2024.

Her court consisted of October and Emerald Drumheller and Gracie Jafraty.

Degler and her court then welcomed people to the shrine’s grotto, where they took pictures.

The grotto is a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and was the first standalone resource in the state to be approved for its historical significance.

The event continued with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Adoration, the recitation of the Rosary and the final Novena and Benediction, concluding with the distribution of roses to those in attendance.

The Shower of Roses began in 1932 by Monsignor Angnello J. Angelini, who was pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, New Columbus, the now site of the diocesan shrine.

In the early days, the Rose Queen would board a helicopter and drop roses to the crowds gathered below.

People arrived by the thousands, busloads of pilgrims, to the shrine. The dropping of the roses ceased a few years ago.