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 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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