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 Because
rainy weather earlier in the week made the grandstand track too wet,
the pageant was moved to the show barn. Rustic barn wood provided
the backdrop for the stage.
Master of Ceremonies Cameron Kurtz welcomed everyone to the 85th
anniversary of the pageant. Throughout the evening, he expressed
thanks to numerous businesses, sponsors, fair board and other
volunteers who made the event possible.
LDN’s own Lesleigh Bennett sang the National Anthem to help kick off
the evening’s events.
2023 Logan County Fair Queen Ellyn Martinez was escorted to the
stage by her father John.
After welcoming everyone, Queen Ellyn said she was excited to see
the 30 lovely contestants vying for their respective titles. Queen
Ellyn could not wait to see who would get crowned, so she said let’s
get this show started.
For the opening production number, queen candidates danced around
the stage to Billy Joel’s song Uptown Girl, then introduced
themselves.
The candidates competing for the title of Logan
County Fair Queen included:
Abbie Arnold, Lincoln, daughter of Matthew and Caroline Arnold.
Arnold is a 2024 LCHS graduate who will attend the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the fall with a major in nutrition.
Grace Davis, Mt. Pulaski, daughter of Ryan and Jennifer Davis. Davis
is a 2024 MPHS graduate who will attend the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign in the fall with a goal of eventually earning
her master’s degree in pediatric speech and language pathology.
Adi Rumler, Lincoln, daughter Alison Rumler-Gomez. Rumler is a 2023
LCHS graduate currently working on a bachelor’s degree in economics
with a minor in Political Science with hopes of one day becoming an
attorney.
Brenley Bruns, Lincoln, daughter of Corey and Sasha Bruns. Bruns
will be a junior at LCHS this fall. She hopes to eventually take
over her father’s roofing business.
Ariana Morris, Lincoln, daughter of Dwayne and Tara Morris. Morris
is a 2024 LCHS graduate who will attend Illinois College in
Jacksonville this fall. She plans to pursue a career in Aerospace
Engineering after college.
Emma Menzel, Lincoln, daughter of Darrin and Elaine Worth. Menzel
will be a senior at LCHS this fall.
To display communication skills, which is 40 percent of the score,
queen contestants spoke on a topic of their choice. Topics included
learning life is too short to let fear get in the way, recognizing
the power of feeling deep emotions and not letting fear control you.
Others talked about developing leadership skills while coaching
Little League players, hard lessons learned after lying and
realizing wearing heels helps with confidence even when they are
uncomfortable.
For the pop question, contestants were asked to
someone visiting Logan County where they would take them to help
showcase the county.
Answers included Missy’s Sweet Shoppe in Atlanta, the Logan County
Fair, Flossie and Delzena’s, the Logan County Courthouse, the
covered wagon, the pond by Lincoln Memorial Hospital and Route 66.
Two contestants said they would take a visitor to downtown Lincoln
because of its locally owned business, great restaurants and cute
boutiques.
The rest of the scoring was based on an interview earlier in the day
plus an evening gown competition to display their stage presence.
The local Junior Miss competition began in 2017 for girls between
the ages of nine and 12. In 2018, the age range was changed to girls
between 11 and 13.
2023 Logan County Junior Miss Ellie Wrage was escorted to the stage
by her father Jason. She welcomed everyone and said she hoped
everyone there would cheer for all the contestants.
Junior Miss contestants sashayed across the stage to Kenny Chesney’s
This is our Moment then introduced themselves.
This year’s junior miss contestants included:
Brooklyn Clark of Lincoln, Lily Zirkelbach of Beason, Emery Maynard
of Lincoln, Reagan Titus of Elkhart, Andrea Rogers of Beason,
Courtney Cecil of Atlanta, Sophia Goodman of Lincoln and Brinley
Balance of Emden Their scores came from an
earlier interview and their appearance on stage.
Each Junior Miss contestant talked about where they were from and
activities they enjoy.
Their answers included basketball, volleyball, softball,
cheerleading, track and field, student council, riding dirt bikes,
dance and showing cows.
Before the Little Miss contestants were introduced, 2023 Little Miss
Kodi Eigenbrod was escorted to the stage by her father John.
Little Miss Kodi then welcomed everyone to the pageant.
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This year’s Little Miss contestants were Cloey Sandel,
Layla Schreiner, Vayda Farmer, Embeth Leesman, Olivia Harmsen,
Isabella Rifner, Charlee Gleason, Emerson Bolen, Deryn Bainter,
Lillian Rademaker, Ella Kurtz, Leighton Neitzel, Stella Anderson,
Lydia Kurtz, Hadley Tripplett and Oaklynn Jason.
Little Miss contestants were judged on an earlier interview that
made up 75 percent of their score. The remaining 25 percent of the
score came from their stage presence.
As always, the Little Miss contestants provided some
sweet moments as they introduced themselves, telling their ages,
where they live and what they want to be when they grow up.
A few want to be veterinarians or teachers, while one wants to be an
accountant and others a face painter or horse owner.
Time between sections was filled by special guests. These included
queens, junior misses, little misses and others with titles from
various Illinois counties such as Fulton, Dewitt, Menard, Macoupin
and Sangamon. They all stood up to be recognized
Other guests included several former Logan County Fair Queens,
Junior Misses and Little Misses. This year they stood up to be
recognized instead of coming up on stage to introduce themselves.
Though several were from recent years, there was also a Logan County
Fair Queen from 70 years ago.
Before results were announced, the outgoing 2023 royalty gave
farewell speeches.
Little Miss Kodi said she really enjoyed events like the the sheep
costume show, chili cookoff and pink pumpkin auction. She then
thanked her parents, grandma, Queen Ellyn and Junior Miss Ellie
before wishing the new Little Miss well.
Junior Miss Ellie said she loved the fair, the 4-H
show barns and exhibits but also learned being a little miss meant
being present at many events and getting to know many people. She
thanked the pageant directors and crew, Queen Ellyn, Little Miss
Kodi, her parents and her sister. Ellie closed by saying it was a
blessing to reign as Little Miss.
In her farewell speech, Queen Ellyn reflected on how
the year has bettered her. She has been in awe of many other queens
who paved the way for her. Queen Ellyn next thanked the fair board,
volunteers and sponsors for their hard work. She said after visiting
numerous county fairs recently, Logan County Fair is the cleanest.
Queen Ellyn was thankful for the support of her family, pageant
director Bethany Rademaker, pageant crew member Katie Martinez and
other pageant crew members who made everything incredible and helped
make her the best version of herself. She appreciated Little Miss
Kodi’s kind heart and Junior Miss Ellie’s brilliance in everything
she puts her mind to.
In closing, Queen Ellyn said she will cherish her time as queen
forever and always be proud to represent the community even though
she will no longer be wearing a sash and crown. She reminded the new
queen to embrace the role and remember little eyes are always
watching and looking up to you.
Finally, the judges’ decisions were announced.
Abbie Arnold was crowned 2024 Miss Logan County Fair Queen; Sophia
Goodman was crowned Junior Miss Logan County and Olivia Harmsen was
crowned as the new Little Miss Logan County.
The first Runner-Up for queen was Adi Rumler.
The Dean Bruns Memorial Miss Congeniality Award went
to Abbie Arnold, who was also the individual who connected to the
most businesses
The Crowd’s Choice was Arianna Morris. Brinley Bruns sold the most
raffle tickets.
Other awards for the Junior Miss contest were First
Runner-Up Brooklyn Clark, who also sold the most raffle tickets.
Miss Congeniality was awarded to Courtney Cecil and Crowd’s Choice
winner was Andrea Rogers.
Other awards for the Little Miss contest were First Runner-Up
Lillian Rademaker, Second Runner-Up Hadley Tripplett, Crowd’s Choice
Deryn Bainter, most raffle tickets sold Layla Schreiner and most
photogenic Olivia Harmsen.
This fall, Queen Abbie will attend the University of Illinois in
Champaign, where she plans to major in Dietetics and Nutrition. Her
goal is to specialize in providing healthy eating and diet plans for
children and teenagers, especially those who are struggling with
eating disorders.
Queen Abbie, Junior Miss Sophia and Little Miss Olivia will reign
over the remainder of the Logan County Fair attending various events
and presentations handing out ribbons. The fair royalty will then
represent Logan County at various events throughout the year with
Queen Abbie competing in January for the title of Miss Illinois
County Fair.
[Angela Reiners] |
