Amy Bloom has never let the fact she's a young woman get in the way of enjoying traditionally male activities.

"I always liked to do the guy side of things," she said.

Bloom has been in Lebanon all her life.

She has three older sisters - Mindy, 23, Tricha Estes, 21, and Cammi, 20 - two of whom had tried out to be a Strawberry Princess.

Her sisters are happy for her.

Bloom's father Jim works at Linn Gear Company. Mother Debbie is a phlebotomist at Mid-Valley Medical Group.

Bloom was involved in cross country for four years, track for three years and wrestling for eight.

She got her start in wrestling through the Mat club and coached for the club throughout high school.

She participated in 4-H in middle school.

She is part of STARS (Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex).

She participated in Voice, a leadership program that tries to help the school be a better place, and GERTC, another leadership program which teaches leadership values such as integrity, honesty and honor.

Bloom also is a member of the National Honor Society.

This year she is a coordinator for Mr. LHS.

Bloom has been active in school sports, but said this year she isn't doing any spring sports.

"I'm kind of slowing down," she said. "I'm leaving in August for the Army. I'm going to be a Blackhawk mechanic, hopefully one day I'll become a pilot."

Bloom's interest in the military blossomed while volunteering with Linn County's Search and Rescue.

Many of the participants in Search and Rescue were former Marines.

Bloom plans to go to college after she gets out of the Army, and may go to college while enlisted.

"I'll either re-enlist and go to warrant officer training school, or get out and go to school and go back in as an officer, depends on how I like the military," she said.

Bloom said at first she wanted to be a combat photographer, and would have gone into infantry if she could have.

"They don't allow females into infantry," she said. "I wanted to do something I really enjoyed."

She said after looking at different options, she realized she always enjoyed helicopters and flying.

"I thought I could work my way up," Bloom said. "In the military and the civilian world, there are great opportunities for helicopter pilots."

She said being a Strawberry Princess is really cool.

"To me it's a good way to be a role model to younger kids," Bloom said. "I remember when I was in grade school at Hampton Creek, I remember the way I looked up to those girls, and now hopefully younger kids can look up to me. I think it's a good way to help kids go on the right path as they get older."

Bloom said the Strawberry Festival is a good way to represent the community.

"It shows what Lebanon has to offer," she said. "It kind of shows what this town can do when we come together. It shows what we're all about. And it's just a good way to show how our community is involved with one another."

What strawberry dessert would you be?

Princess Amy Bloom would be strawberry cheesecake because "it's the best."