Four candidates gathered Tuesday evening at the annual Queen’s Tea in an attempt to become the 2017 Fayette County Fair Queen.
This event held at the fairgrounds marks a milestone as the county comes closer to attending the next Fayette County Fair from July 17-22. Each year several young ladies seek the opportunity to lead the county youth at the Fayette County Fair.
This special title and role will fill the days of the individual selected with many duties. The queen will attend many of the shows, sales, and “fun days,” and serve as an announcer or give trophies to winners throughout the week. Additionally, the queen will serve as a role model for the 4-H kids and will be celebrated in the Mahan Building with her picture among the queens from past fairs for years to come.
During the Tea, 2016 Fayette County Fair Queen Bethany Reiterman served as emcee as the crowd waited for the four candidates – Skylynn Barden, Clare Sollars, Marissa Sheets and Susanna Eckstein. A nice assortment of snacks and cake was served to the crowd of friends, family and commodity queens. After introducing the queens, ambassadors and princesses, Reiterman asked the crowd to share their own memories of the fair and what projects they showed.
Soon after, the candidates took to the podium with a word randomly selected from a basket. They were tasked to define the word and explain what the word means to them and the fair. Each candidate was judged on their response by three judges present at the Tea, and after a final deliberation, the name of the next queen was written down in an envelope.
“We had a great turnout, about 60 people here in all,” Queen’s Tea organizer, Lisa Schwartz, said. “We had snacks, games, prizes, and cake. Everyone had a wonderful time and we cannot wait to find out at the opening ceremony who the queen will be.”
The envelope will be opened at the Fayette County Fair’s Opening Ceremony on Sunday, July 16 at 5:30 p.m. at the McDonald’s Grandstand. The community is invited to attend.
