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2017 LOGAN COUNTY FAIR
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS
July 30 - August 6, 2017
Jade Stewart of Mount Pulaski, daughter of Jason and
Angie Stewart, will be a senior at Mount Pulaski High
School.
To display their communication skills, contestants
spoke on a topic of their choice with the contestants
discussing diverse topics such as 4-H camp, the love
of travel, memories of the fair, the importance of
agriculture, becoming a better and healthier person,
the love of showing pigs, being a positive influence,
family traditions, missing family members, losing a
family member to cancer, and living each day to the
fullest.
For the pop question, contestants were asked to
express their opinion about the biggest problem
Illinois farmers face today. Several answered that
weather issues such as lack of rain is a problem.
Others said funding, land being taken over,
discrimination against how some use their field,
needing more to step up and be a voice for agriculture,
and farm accidents are the biggest problems.
The other parts of their score are based on an interview
done earlier in the day with the judge, a swimsuit
competition to show their beauty and physique, and an
evening gown competition to demonstrate their stage
presence.
This year, a Junior Miss competition was added for
girls between the ages of 9 and 12. These contestants
were asked to share why they wanted to be the first
Junior Miss Logan County. Answers included the
fair being an important part of the community and the
best of Logan County, being around people, meeting
new people, representing the county, having an
overall great experience, and becoming part of Logan
County’s history.
Junior Miss contestants were Jaelynn Anderson, Myah
Bowman, Julia Collins, Lauryn Crawford, Meya
Harmon, Araya Lucas, Karson Mott and Danielle
Phillips.
As always, the Little Miss contestants, who ranged
in age from five to eight, provided some sweet and
adorable moments as they introduced themselves and
told what they liked best at the fair. Their favorites
included the rides, eating cotton candy, taking
pictures, and showing pigs.
Little Miss contestants were Brinley Ballance, Bay
Boughan, Trinity Callahan, Karri Caudle, Brooklyn
Edwards, Reagan Titus, Eliahlyn Hinton, Eva
Leonard, Elliana Park and Andrea Rogers.
Both the Little Miss and Junior Miss contestants were
judged on an interview done before the fair, which is
75 percent of their score and on their stage presence,
which is the other 25 percent of their score.
As in past years, special guests filling the time
between the various sections of the competition
included this year’s Queens, Junior Misses, and Little
Misses from several different Illinois counties and
several former Logan County Fair Queens. Irma
(Kaesebier) Leesman and Evelyn (Oltmanns) Belcher,
who were both queens over 70 years ago, shared
many fond memories and said how much the fair has
changed over the years.
Before the 2017 queen was crowned, outgoing Queen
Michelle Paulus gave a farewell speech recalling her
overwhelming happiness at being crowned and her
exciting year. She said it takes a village to do this and
thanked the fair board, many friends, the pageant crew,
Little Miss Paisley, and her parents.
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