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On a toasty Tuesday evening, eight
graceful and talented queen contestants, five charming junior misses
and eighteen adorable little misses from around Logan County
competed for the chance to represent Logan County at the fair and
other events throughout the year.
Master of Ceremonies Cameron Kurtz welcomed everyone to the 86th
anniversary of the queen pageant, 17th anniversary of the little
miss pageant and 9th anniversary of the junior miss pageant.
Throughout the evening, Kurtz
expressed thanks to numerous businesses, sponsors, pageant crew,
fair board, directors of the Logan County Fair Association and other
volunteers who helped make the event possible. He said there is a
lot of work behind the scenes throughout the year that goes into the
pageant and fair itself as many work tirelessly.
LDN’s own Lesleigh Bennett sang the National Anthem to help kick off
the evening’s events. Even with sound issues, she sang beautifully.
2024 Logan County Fair Queen Abbie
Arnold was escorted to the stage in a convertible by her father
Matthew.
After welcoming everyone, Queen Abbie told the crowd to cheer loudly
and stay cool as you watch a show you do not want to miss.
Queen contestants danced in
synchronicity to the Foundation’s song “Build Me Up Buttercup.”
The candidates competing for the
title of Logan County Fair Queen included:
Julia Collins of Atlanta is the daughter of Ashley and Josh Collins.
Collins will be a sophomore at the University of Iowa.
Myah Bowman of Lincoln of Donnie and Amanda Bowman. Myah will be a
senior at is the daughter LCHS this year.
Emma Menzel of Lincoln is the daughter of Elaine and Darrin Worth.
Menzel will attend the University of Illinois at Springfield this
fall.
Kristy Morrow of Lincoln is the daughter of Kristen Green, David
Morrow and Terence Puffer. Kristy will be a Freshman at the
University of Illinois this fall.
Ariana Morris, Lincoln is the daughter of Dwayne and Tara Morris.
Ariana will be a sophomore at Illinois College.
Bianca Adubato of Lincoln is the daughter of Frank and Michelle
Adubato. Bianca will be a junior at Illinois College.
Ivy Sandel of Lincoln is the daughter of Sarah and Ryan Guyett. Ivy
will be a freshman at Illinois State University this fall
Grace Tolliver of Lincoln is the daughter of Sarah Fleshman and
Nicholas Fleshman. Grace will be a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan
University this fall.
To display communication skills, which is 40 percent of the score,
queen contestants spoke on a topic of their choice. Topics included
discovering the need to grow your community, making strangers into a
community through simple actions, learning time management and other
lessons from a job as a kennel attendant and turning challenges into
comebacks.
Others talked about overcoming fears, never letting fear stop you,
being the pilot of your own future, spreading joy no matter what and
learning to smile and be confident.
For the pop question, contestants were asked if you could start a
new trend among young women in your community, what would it be and
why. Contestants talked about supporting one another, uplifting each
other, promoting self-worth to everyone around you and showing
kindness to everyone no matter how different we are.
Other answers include sharing fun secrets like how to find the
perfect dress, doing whatever you want whether it be painting, doing
Papier Mache or even playing in the mud and showing people that
agriculture is much more than just farming.
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. One reason this category was added was so there
were not so many years between being a little miss and running for
queen.
2024 Logan County Junior Miss
Sophia Goodman was escorted to the stage by her father Steven. She
welcomed everyone then told them to have fun and enjoy the evening.
Junior Miss contestants sashayed
across the stage to Lainey Wilson’s “Wildflowers and Wild Horses.”
This year’s Junior Miss contestants included:
Brinley Ballance of Emden, Emily Lawrence of Middletown, Courtney
Cecil of Atlanta, Olivia Wrage of Lincoln and Brooklyn Clark of
Lincoln.
Their scores came from an earlier
interview and their appearance on stage.
Each Junior Miss contestant talked about the many activities they
enjoy.
Before the Little Miss contestants
were introduced, 2024 Little Miss Olivia Harmsen was escorted to the
stage by her father John.
Little Miss Olivia told the crowd to sit back, relax and get my
favorite food, Culler’s Fries.
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This year’s Little Miss
contestants were:
Millie Mason, Luella Leevey, Emmylou McCree, Finley Farmer,
Brynlee Bossingham, Elizabeth Gail Fitzpatrick, Leighton Neitzel,
Isabella Rifner, Charlee Gleason, Deryn Bainter, Stella
Anderson, Vayda Farmer, Amelia Clemens, Eislee Bolen, Ava Bunn,
Carleigh Bregar, Kynlee Adams and Piper Haffner.
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 at
the pageant. Judges also choose Miss photogenic from their pageant
photos.
As always, the Little Miss contestants provided some sweet moments
as they introduced themselves and flashed their cute smiles.
After each contestant introduced herself, Kurtz read their career
plan. These ambitious young ladies have career plans which include
being a pilot, rock star, professional basketball player, singer,
babysitter or mommy.
Some want to be teachers, nurses, veterinarians or police officers.
Time between sections was filled by special guests. These included
queens, junior misses, little misses and others with titles from
various Illinois counties who stood up to be recognized.
Other guests included several former Logan County Fair Queens,
Junior Misses and Little Misses. These included winners from recent
years such as 2018 Fair Queen Molly Schemp and 2023 Junior Miss
Ellie Wrage to Elizabeth Wrage, who was Fair Queen 25 years ago.
Before results were announced, the outgoing 2024 royalty gave
farewell speeches.
Little Miss Olivia talked about her incredible year and favorite
events like the Pink Pumpkin Auction, sheep costume contest and
parades. She also said she enjoyed the time to get to know Queen
Abbie and Junior Miss Sophia and getting to know this year’s
contestants.
Olivia also thanked her family for always supporting her, the
pageant crew and fair board for making this night possible and
Pageant Director Bethany Rademaker for all she did over the past
year.
Junior Miss Sophia thanked the Fair board, pageant crew and family
for their support. Being crowned was her favorite part of the week.
She said some of her best moments from the week she was crowned, and
started the best fair week ever, included receiving a showmanship
award, catching a goat in the scrambles and winning supreme heifer
in the cattle show.
Over the year, Sophia loved being in parades, participating in
festivals and being in a hot air balloon. She said the events would
not have been as much fun without Little Miss Olivia making her
laugh even when they needed to be serious.
Sophia said she loved Queen Abbie’s bubbly personality and her inner
and outer beauty. Sophia then said Queen Abbie was an incredible
role model to her and watching her participate in the state pageant
was very inspiring. She thanked the pageant committee for being the
best and working so hard on this great night.
In her farewell speech, Queen Abbie started by saying one year ago I
was crowned and now in a few short moments, I will finish an
experience that has been nothing short of a dream.
Queen Abbie also thanked the
pageant crew and others who put in so much time and hard work, her
family for their great support and all the ways they helped her this
past year.
After going to many county fairs, which Abbie said were all amazing,
she thinks Logan County is the best fair.
With tears in her eyes, Abbie said she appreciated Little Olivia
always brightening her days and sparkling in everything. She will
miss her adventures with Olivia.
To Sophia, Abbie said she remembered meeting Sophia for the first
time and being enamored with her kindness. She was very impressed by
Sophia’s skill and passion when Sophia showed her cattle during fair
week.
Queen Abbie loved watching her “sash sisters” experience rides they
had never been and getting Culler’s fries more times than she could
count. Abbie wished that she had found out the three of them all had
the same shoe earlier in her reign.
To the next queen, Queen Abbie said, don’t blink because before you
know it, you will be back on-stage next year crying like me. Meet
people in the county and remember you represent the county no matter
where you go or who you talk to. She thanked Logan County for the
most incredible year in her life.
Queen Abbie is thankful for her newfound confidence and the
memories. She said the community is unlike any other and she has
been blessed to represent a county she will carry in her heart for
the rest of her life.
Finally, the judges’ decisions were
announced:
Julia Collins was crowned Logan County Fair Queen, Courtney Cecil
Junior was crowned Junior Miss Logan County and Vayda Farmer was
crowned Little Miss Logan County.
The first Runner-Up for queen was Ivy Sandel.
The Dean Bruns Memorial Miss Congeniality Award went to new Queen
Julia Collins.
The Crowd’s Choice was Arianna Morris and she also connected with
the most businesses.
Bianca Adubato sold the most raffle tickets.
Other awards for the Junior Miss contest included First Runner-Up
Olivia Wrage, who was also awarded Miss Congeniality.
Courtney Cecil sold the most raffle tickets and Crowd’s Choice
winner was Emily Lawrence.
Other awards for the Little Miss contest included First Runner-Up
Finley Farmer, Second Runner-Up Stella Anderson, Crowd’s Choice
Deryn Bainter and most photogenic Piper Haffner.
Queen Julia grew up in Atlanta and
is the daughter of Ashley and Josh Collins.
This fall, Queen Julia will be a sophomore at Iowa State University
where she is studying teaching English as a second language.
Interestingly, Queen Julia is the first one to achieve a trifecta by
winning Little Miss in 2011, Junior Miss in 2018 and now Queen in
2025.
Queen Julia, Junior Miss Courtney and Little Miss Vayda 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 Julia competing in January for the title of Miss Illinois
County Fair.
[Angela Reiners] |
