2021 Logan County Fair

Caroline Ahrends crowned 2021 Miss Logan County Fair
Jealynn Anderson crowned Junior Miss, Sofia Farmer Little Miss

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[August 05, 2021]  On a clear and pleasant Tuesday evening, 10 lovely and talented young queen contestants, nine delightful junior misses, and 15 charming little misses from around the county competed for a chance to represent Logan County at the fair and other local events throughout the year.

Flowers and greenery on a white backdrop decorated the stage for the Logan County Fair Queen Pageant.

Master of Ceremonies Cameron Kurtz welcomed everyone to the fair, thanking the many sponsors who make the event possible.

Lesleigh Bennett sang the National Anthem to help kick off the evening.

Kurtz then introduced 2020 Logan County Fair Queen Faith Doerr, whose father Dr. Scott Doerr drove her to the stage in a silver convertible. After thanking everyone for supporting the contestants, Doerr said all the contestants displayed the character and integrity needed to represent the county. She said they have all worked hard this past month getting ready for the pageant.

For the opening production number, the queen candidates sashayed across the stage to “Such A Night.” Each contestant introduced herself and told what town they live in.

The candidates competing for the title of Logan County Fair Queen included:

Jayden Lawrence of Beason, daughter of Amy and Shawn Lawrence. She attends Lincoln College.

Alyvia Gannon of Lincoln, daughter of Jaimi Gannon and James Isbell. She will be attending Eureka College.

Caroline Ahrends of Lincoln, daughter of Marty Orris and Les Ahrends. She will be attending the University of Illinois.

Haven Henry of Lincoln, daughter of Michael and Bethany Henry. She attends Lincoln Community High School.

Rachel Brackney of Lincoln, daughter of Brian and Debbi Brackney. She will be attending the University of Illinois.

Abby Stiefvater of Lincoln, daughter of Jeff and Kristin Stiefvater. She will be attending the University of Illinois.

Ruthie Ruhl of Mount Pulaski, daughter of Scott and Gena Ruhl. She will be attending the University of Central Florida.

Kyleigh Heinzel of Lincoln, daughter of Tonya McCann. She attends Lincoln Community High School.

Lynzie Luster of Lincoln, daughter of Richard and Shelley Luster. She attends Lincoln Community High School.

Brooklyn Summers of Lincoln, daughter of Joey Summers and Misty Shreve. She plans to attend the University of Missouri or Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville in 2022.

To display their communication skills, which is 40 percent of the score, queen contestants spoke on a topic of their choice. The women shared a range of topics including the importance of 4-H, perseverance, overcoming dyslexia, and being inspired to work in the medical field. One spoke about her diabetes making her stronger. Another said farming has shown her the importance of agriculture and how hard farmers work.

Others spoke of having confidence, bravery and trust to overcome anything, and the country showing strength in the hard times last year. Two spoke of living to follow dreams and accomplish more than you think possible plus learning you can do anything you put your mind to because there are no limits.

For the pop question, contestants were asked a rather lengthy question. To lead into the question, Kurtz said 2020 was a year like no other. There wasn’t even a Logan County Fair. The question was: Despite the challenges and disruptions we all faced, what is one lesson you will likely share with future generations?

Several contestants said they learned it is important to spend time with and hold on to family and loved ones, stay close to those important to you and never forget to say, “I love you.” Other lessons were appreciating every day of their lives, living life to the fullest, and expecting the unexpected.

The rest of contestant scoring was based on an interview done earlier in the day plus an evening gown competition to show their stage presence.

The local Junior Miss competition began in 2017 and it was for girls between the ages of nine and 12. In 2018, the range was changed to ages 11 to 13.

2020 Logan County Junior Miss Grace Carter was escorted to the stage by her father Adam Nagrocki. Carter thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the fair.

Junior Miss contestants danced across the stage to the song “Better When I’m Dancing,” then introduced themselves and told what towns they live in.

This year’s Junior Miss contestants included:
Kaeli Jones, Isabella Pollice, Jaelyn Anderson, Mckinlee Stoltzenburg, Alayna Briggs, Mashell King, Myah Bowman, Holland Devalle and Aleaha Crane.

Their scores came from appearance on stage and answering questions asked by each of the three judges.

Judges asked each contestant what she hoped to gain from this experience, the quality she felt a junior miss should possess and one rule at home she would change.

Many of the contestants hoped to gain confidence or public speaking experience. Various contestants felt a junior miss should show kindness, good communication skills, a sense of humor or a positive attitude. Rules they would change included curfews, not being able to stay up later, not being allowed to eat food in their rooms and not having internet their rooms.

Before the Little Miss contestants were introduced, 2020 Logan County Little Miss Aubrey Rogers was escorted to the stage by her grandfather David Rose. She bashfully welcomed everyone.

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As always, the Little Miss contestants provided some precious moments as they introduced themselves telling their ages and where they lived.

This year’s Little Miss contestants were Denver Guy, Emmersyn Bradburn, Avery Charron, Ayleigh Urish, Laney Coers, Sofia Farmer, Isabella Toft, Emmary Grenlund, Kaylee Geggie, Falyn Farmer, Lakin Titus, Aera Merritt, Lillian Rademaker, Brielle Wilson and Savannah Rawlins.

Little Miss contestants were judged on an interview that made up 60 percent of their score. The other 40 percent of their score came from their stage presence.

This year, Little Miss contestants had to answer three questions about where they would go if they could travel anywhere and why, what makes them happy and who their hero is.

Various ones want to travel to Disneyworld, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, Chicago or Hot Springs, Arkansas because they are fun or neat places. Many said their moms or dads were their heroes because of the work they do, taking care of them and protecting them. The contestants are happy being with family, playing with siblings or pets, and being with friends who make them laugh.

Time between sections was filled by special guests. These included queens, junior misses, little misses and others with titles from several other Illinois counties. Instead of having them come to the stage and introduce themselves, the visiting royalty were asked to stand up from their seat and wave to the crowds.

Other guests included several former Logan County Fair Queens, Junior Misses and Little Misses. The royalty ranged from those from recent years to those who served many years ago including 1970 Logan County Fair Queen Linda (Allspach) Sheehan. Julia Collins and Karson Mott each won both the Little Miss and Junior Miss titles several years apart.

Before results were announced, two of the outgoing 2020 royalty gave farewell speeches

Junior Miss Grace Carter thanked all who helped her this past year especially Katie Gosda. She thanked her parents for all their encouragement. Carter said she enjoyed going to events with Little Miss Aubrey and called Queen Faith her role model and best friend. They will be sash sisters forever. Carter closed by saying she would see everyone soon when she is back in a few years to run for queen.

In her farewell speech, Queen Faith Doerr said she dreamed for years of holding the title and ran two other times before winning the title. Queen Faith has many memories of being the “Corona” Queen.

Despite the pandemic and not getting to see Junior Miss Grace and Little Miss Aubrey often, Queen Faith said she had an amazing year. She has learned to carry herself like a queen. Queen Faith thanked God, then people like the fair board who chose to still host the 2020 pageant; plus the many sponsors like Cheri of Simply Elegant, who provided her gown.

Queen Faith said she was also thankful to her family for encouragement and all they did for her. She appreciated the various pageant directors for their help and advice. She then thanked Junior Miss Grace for being a ray of sunshine and Little Miss Aubrey for being beautiful, smart and spunky. As Queen Faith ended her farewell speech, she thanked all the friends who supported her.

Finally, the judge's decisions were announced.

Caroline Ahrends was crowned Miss Logan County Fair 2021, Jaelyn Anderson was crowned Junior Miss Logan County, and Sofia Farmer was chosen as the new Little Miss Logan County.


Other awards for the queen contest were presented to First Runner-up Jayden Lawrence and Second Runner-Up Rachel Brackney.

The Dean Bruns Memorial Miss Congeniality Award was given to Rachel Brackney.

Crowd’s Choice and the individual who connected with the most businesses was Kyleigh Heinzel.

Other awards for the Junior Miss contest were First Runner-up, Alayna Briggs; Second Runner-up, Myah Bowman; Crowd’s Choice, Jaelyn Anderson; and most raffles tickets sold, Alayna Briggs.

Other awards for the Little Miss contest were First Runner-up, Emmary Grenlund; Second Runner-up Lillian Rademaker; Crowd’s Choice, Ayleigh Urish; and most raffle tickets sold and most photogenic, Lillian Rademaker.

This fall, Queen Caroline will be a freshman at the University of Illinois majoring in elementary education with a minor in Spanish. She hopes to teach in a bilingual elementary classroom.

Ahrends’ hobbies include spending time with her friends, running, playing soccer and arranging plants. She also enjoys listening to audiobooks and plays both the flute and sousaphone in ensembles. Her international travel has included Haiti, Japan, and Costa Rica.

Queen Caroline joined by Junior Miss Jaelyn and Little Miss Sofia will reign over the remainder of the Logan County Fair attending numerous events and presentations handing out ribbons. The fair royalty will also represent Logan County at various events during the year with Queen Caroline competing in January for the title of Miss Illinois County Fair.


[Angela Reiners]

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