Aubrey Rogers and Grace Carter named 2020 Little Miss and Junior Miss Logan County Fair

 

[August 10, 2020] 

On Sunday afternoon the Little Miss and Junior Miss contests were held prior to the Logan County Fair Queen Pageant.

The Little Miss contest began at 1 p.m. and featured six adorable young ladies, all of whom would have done an excellent job of wearing the crown. Each little girl was poised and confident as they paraded across the Lincoln Stage at the Logan County Fairground. They introduced themselves one at a time and gave sweet waves to the audience.

As part of their judging they were required to take a seat in front of the three judges and answer three questions each. The questions included what is your favorite summertime food, what is your favorite summertime activity, and what is your favorite animal at the Logan County Fair.

All six girls were ready with their answers. Some noted that watermelon was a great summertime food, while another chose to say ice cream. Activities included swimming and spending time with grandparents. Favorite animals at the fair were widely varied among the six.

As a part of the first program of the day, 2019 Junior Miss Anna Kindred sang the National Anthem. She performed again at the Junior Miss competition held at 3 p.m.

Master of Ceremonies Cameron Kurtz noted the former royalty in the building, including the 2018 Little Miss Kylee Fulk, 2014 Little Miss Chloe Bottom, 2013 Little Miss Celia Cross and 2013 Miss Logan County Fair Crystal Quint.

The 2019 Little Miss Jolie Grisham came to the stage twice during the competition. The first time she was accompanied by her father who handed her a lovely bouquet of flowers after she delivered a warm welcome to the audience.

Her second visit to the stage was her farewell speech and wave. She spoke about how much she had enjoyed being the Little Miss during 2019 and how fond she was of 2019 Queen Skye Kretzinger and Junior Miss Anna Kindred, saying that she had had fun spending time with them all year.

The judges had their hands full making a decision for who would wear the crown of Little Miss Logan County in 2020. While they finished their deliberations the winner of the 2020 pageant raffle sales was announced as being contestant number six – Aubrey Rogers.

Aubrey had sold the most raffle tickets, raising money for the Logan County Fair Pageant Fund.

Then it was time for the big announcements. With one last introduction and wave from the little girls, Kurtz began by announcing the second runner up, then first runner up and finally the new 2020 Little Miss.

Morgan Andrews, Aubrey Rogers, Lila Cross

The second runner up was Lila Cross. Lila is the daughter of Kent and Julie Cross of Emden.

First runner up was Morgan Andrews. Morgan is the daughter of John and Kate Andrews of Lincoln.

All of the Little Miss contestants received a gift bag sponsored by the pageant fund. The second and first runners up also received engraved silver trays donated by Small Town Creations in Lincoln.

Then it was time for the official announcement of who would wear the Little Miss crown for 2020. Little Aubrey Rogers was called to the center of the stage to receive her crown. Aubrey is the daughter of Daniel and Alexandra Rogers of Beason.

In addition to the tiara provided by the pageant fund, Aubrey received an embroidered silk sash donated by Kelly Gleason, R.W. Garrett Agency; a bouquet donated by former Logan County Queen Amy Morgan (owner of Le Fleur Designs and Events, Inc.), engraved silver tray from Small Town Creations and $20 cash from the pageant fund.

Gifts were presented to the two runners up and the Little Miss by 2019 Little Miss Jolie and 2019 Logan County Fair Queen Skye Kretzinger. The 2019 royalty posed for quick snapshots with the new Little Miss then the competition was ended.

Due to the need to practice social distancing, guests were asked to exit the building as soon as possible so that the pageant crew could begin rearranging the seating and cleaning all the chairs.

At 3 p.m. the second competition began with four lovely young ladies took the stage to vie for the title of 2020 Junior Miss Logan County.

Moving along the same format as the first competition, the four came on stage and introduced themselves. They would then leave the stage to return later to answer three questions put to them by the panel of judges.

Kurtz explained that beforehand the girls had been given five questions to contemplate. However, the judges would be choosing which questions to ask. The questions included what qualities do you have that will make you a good representative for Logan County, and what should be added to the Logan County Fair to make it better?

Answers ranged from being kind and friendly to having a good outlook to being brave and patient. Improvements to the fair included more carnival rides and a suggestion for the fair board to implement a summer work program for teenagers. The ladies were also asked about their favorite parts of the fair, and answers included watching the livestock shows, and attending 4-H events and 4-H day at the fair.

In addition to singing at the competition, Junior Miss Anna Kindred also took the stage twice, first to welcome all guests to the competition and finally to bid her fond farewell to her reign as the 2019 Junior Miss.

Anna delivered a lighted hearted speech and commented that the last half of the year had certainly not turned out the way she expected it would. However, “on the bright side” she said that the 2019 royalty would forever go down in history as the “Quarantine Queens.” The quip drew chuckles from the audience.

Anna went on to talk about the respect and admiration she had for Queen Skye and that she had fallen in love with little Jolie from the first day. She talked about spending time with her two counterparts and how special that would always be.

As she drew her speech to its conclusion her voice broke slightly as she paraphrased a quote from the movie “The Princess Diaries,” as she said “I am and forever will be your 2019 Junior Miss Logan County Fair.”

As the judges deliberated on who would wear the crown for 2020, Kurtz noted the former royalty in the audience. Present for the 3 p.m. competition was Karson Mott, who was Little Miss in 2012 and carries the distinction of being crowned in 2017 as the first Junior Miss Logan County. Also on hand was Julia Collins. Julia served as the Logan County Little Miss in 2012 and the Junior Miss in 2018.

Then it was time to announce the new Junior Miss royalty.

Alayna Briggs and Grace Carter

The first runner up for 2020 Junior Miss Logan County Fair was Alayna Briggs. Alayna is the daughter of H.E. and Angela Westen of Emden.

Then came the big announcement, the 2020 Junior Miss Logan County would be Grace Carter. Grace’s cheering section let out a big whoop as the young lady came forward to receive her crown from Kindred. Grace is the daughter of Adam and Samantha Nagrocki of Atlanta.

All four contestants received gift bags sponsored by the pageant fund.

The first runner up received an engraved silver tray by Small Town Creations, a bouquet from former Logan County Queen Amy Morgan (owner of Le Fleur Designs and Events, Inc.) and $25 from the pageant fund.

The Junior Miss tiara was provided by the pageant fund. Her silk sash was sponsored by Gary Rademaker, Northwest Mutual. Grace also received a silver tray from Small Town Creations, flowers from Amy Morgan and $50 from the pageant fund.

Congratulations to both our Little Miss Aubrey and Junior Miss Grace. These young ladies will also go down in history as fair royalty in a year when there was no fair.

We can only hope that this is the last time in history that anyone will be able to make such a claim. Nonetheless, the pageant committee did a great job of making due with what they had to work with. The events were well organized, and everyone appeared to be respectful of the requirements to keep social distance and not gather in groups before or after the competitions.

Thanks to the committee for another job well done. The pageant crew was made up of Pageant Director Bethany Rademaker, Junior Miss Director Katie Gosda, Little Miss Director Lindsey Guy, Production Manager Brande Montgomery and Former Logan County Fair Queen (2016) Michelle Paulus.

[Nila Smith]