The Washington Town & Country Fair is accepting applications for the 2018 Fair Queen Contest.  Contestants must be citizens of the United States, female, and a resident of Franklin or an adjoining county.  Contestants must also be a resident of Missouri for no fewer than six months as of July 15, 2018.  Contestants shall be a high school graduate, of no more than 22 years of age on September 1, 2018, and must be single.
 
The 2018 Fair Queen will receive a $2,500.00 scholarship, First Runner-up $1,000.00, Second Runner-up $750.00, and Miss Congeniality will receive a $500.00 scholarship.
 
The Queen Contest Committee has scheduled activities for all the contestants including a Contestant/Sponsor Luncheon, “A Day of Professionalism”, “A Day Washington”, Run/Walk, and Parade.
 
Twenty-four contestants will be entered in the contest.  You can sign up at the Washington Area Chamber of Commerce office at 323 W. Main St., Washington, MO 63090, by calling (636) 239-2715 x105, or by e-mailing Tammy.   More info can be found on the Queen Contest page of the website.

As the rainstorm worsened, my hopes sank into the deep puddles collecting on the sides of the road. The parade would have to be cancelled. The thought depressed me as we drove on toward the Bank of Washington Downtown Branch. We arrived at the garage and waited out the rain. However, all our hopes were not dashed as the rain let up to a drizzle. As more and more convertibles arrived, our rainy moods lifted! After drying off our vehicle, my partner and I strapped our posters on to the doors. Soon, we headed out for a wonderful parade day! The temperature was not too hot, not too cold…it was perfect! We lined up and the parade started. 

At a signal from one of the fair queen committee members, we sat up on the backs of the convertibles. Our feet didn’t touch the seat below us, so holding on was difficult!! Once, on a sharp curve, the driver braked, and we lurched forward from our seats. The crowd gasped, but luckily, we were able to somewhat gracefully reseat ourselves. By the end, my hand was tired and my smile was hurting, but it was worth it to see people smiling and waving back! ​

Hello my fellow fair lovers! I hope you are enjoying your summer and looking forward to the fair, which is less than three weeks away! 
This week the queen contestants experienced a Day in Washington. The first stop of our day was the Washington Historical Society. Even though I’ve lived in Washington my whole life, I had never been in the museum. It was full of interesting things about Washington’s rich history. I plan to go back in the future to take a closer look, and you should too! 
From there, we were taken on a tram ride through Washington led by Marc Houseman. Man that guy knows a lot about the history of Washington! I was intrigued listening to all of his stories. Did you know that Krog Park used to be a cemetery?! Me neither! 
After our tram ride, we headed on over to Geisert’s Farm to You Market. What is great about the market is that they sell all locally produced food! They gave us a quick tour and then treated us to some samples of their food. Have you ever tried bacon ice cream? It is amazing!! Pick some up at Geisert’s, you won’t be disappointed! 
The last of our stops was lunch at Cowan’s. If you’ve never been, you have to go! It is a hometown favorite. All their food is delicious, but especially their famous mile-high pies! 
A Day in Washington was one for the books. I will never forget the special memories made with all of the wonderful girls. I am looking forward to the rest of the summer and can’t wait to see you at the fair to continue the family tradition!

​Hey everyone! The fair is fast approaching and with that, ticket sales have been growing! It’s been a little different this year, but different isn’t always bad!
 
Instead of having hard copy tickets to keep track of and have to deal with handling the money received after a purchase, this year we have been doing online tickets! At washmofair.com, you can enter how many tickets you want and if they are adult or child tickets, and then you can put in one of the Queen Contestant’s promo codes. After that, you fill out your billing information and enter your cell phone number and email and your ticket is texted and emailed right to you! It’s as easy as that! You also pay a service fee of $1 so that if you lose your ticket, we can simply email it right back to you. 
 
After talking with a couple people on how they like the new system, I think most queen contestants would agree it is easier and more efficient for us; however, most people buying the tickets think it takes a little too long to enter the information and would rather have their ticket handed to them. Whether you like the new system of ticket selling, grab a Queen and find a promo code so you can buy your Washington Town and Country Fair tickets! Can’t wait to see you at the fair.

What an experience! All the contestants and I gathered around the conference table on the fourth floor of the downtown Bank of Washington to practice mock interviews. First things first, if you haven't been to the bank downtown, you are in for a treat. The room we spent most of the day in overlooks the beautiful Missouri River and much of the other historic buildings of Washington. As we waited for the morning to kick off, we noticed several familiar faces. About 15 successful women of Washington sat before us and were our interviewers for the day. The other contestants and I were more excited than nervous today. As we waited for our turn for a mock interview, we made sure to get a nice selfie on the balcony before the rain hit us. A few minutes later it was time for my interview, I walked into my room to be greeted by three lovely women. My few nerves went away quickly by the sweet grins of my atmosphere and the happy atmosphere. Today the ladies asked fun and easy questions like "If you were stranded on an island and you could bring one person, who would it be and why?" and "Who's your biggest role model and why?". They made me feel comfortable and we shared a good laugh about some of funny memories as a kid. After my interview was over, they complimented me on my interviewing strengths and gave me great advice for the real interview for the contest. When I came back to the conference room all of the other girls shared their positive experience, as well. After the interviews were done, we got to meet as a group with all the women and asked them some questions on interviews and then got to enjoy some amazing food catered from The Hawthorne Inn. Talk about a great day! The Queen Contestants and I are extremely grateful for the experience we had today and the great advice for our future interviews for the Queen Contest and for potential jobs!

Our first Day of Professional Development offered a wide variety of helpful tips and hints in many different areas of professionalism. We had four speakers who each brought their own area of expertise to all of us.

Melanie Broyles spoke to us about etiquette, Mason Duchatschek spoke to us about the right and wrongs ways to use social media to advertise ourselves, Beth Grellner gave us tips on how to prepare for and survive an interview, and Dr. Rachael Franssen gave us a little glimpse of what the hiring process for a job would be. I think it was an awesome experience for us. We got to learn so much about interviewing and etiquette that others may never get to know. I am so excited to take everything I learned from that day and apply it not only to the Queen Contest interview, but also to the rest of my professional career.

What a wonderful night at the ballpark! The queen contestants, our sponsors, the queen committee, and several fair board members gathered to cheer on the Post 218 Baseball Team. The summer is just getting started, but this event is definitely my favorite so far. After being introduced on the field with our sponsors, the queen contestants got to announce the players as they came up to bat and had a radio interview with KLPW! It was fun to socialize with our sponsors, and I especially enjoyed getting to know the other queen contestants better! I'm looking forward to more fun events and making new friends this summer!

​Tonight was a night of gratitude, fun, and laughter that was brought together by the great American sport of baseball. The contestants and I had the chance to recognize and thank our sponsors by going onto the field beforehand. Since most of the focus can be on the contestants during the next few months, I thought it was great to give our sponsors the recognition they deserve. Again, thank you to all of the sponsors for everything they do for us. Throughout the night the contestants and I were able to announce players and get interviewed by KLPW. We gave nicknames to the players and cringed at the sounds of our voices in the microphones; but all in all, these silly experiences helped us bond as a group. Altogether, the night as a whole was a blast. Thank you to our sponsors, the Fair Board, the Legion, the teams, and everyone who made this night possible.

​Throw on some workout clothes, buy a five dollar yoga mat, and head on down to the Missouri River with a group of wonderful girls if you want to have the same experience that we all had! Yoga on the Riverfront was one of the most relaxing things that I have done in a long time. All of us girls have jobs and lots of other activities to keep us busy over the summer. I don’t know about them but yoga was just what I needed to let myself calm down and relax for a while. Listening to the river flow and the birds chirp made it so much more peaceful. Well, that is until someone in a lifted, loud jeep drove by distracting us and getting us off balance, some even found themselves on the ground, and yes I was one of them. If that isn’t enough, they shouted at us “Do the Downward Dog ladies!” at that point we were all laughing and having a great time. While there were some distractions, overall I found yoga to be super relaxing, that was until we did the “pretzel” I’m not sure that’s what the pose is called but that is exactly what I felt like. Yoga is a great thing to do because it isn’t a competition, there will be things that you can do but not others, and things that others can do but you cannot.  I’m so glad I was able to meet some new faces and get to talk to all the girls in the Fair Queen Contest, cannot wait for more fun-filled events over the summer! 

Hello all - this is Amanda from the Fair Office and last week I got to meet the girls that have signed up for this year's Queen Contest.  They.  Are.  AWESOME!  Seriously, there was enough personality to fill the fairgrounds.  :)  This year, 26 of our area's brightest young ladies have signed up for a whole summer full of fun and learning, capped off with the Queen Coronation on August 3rd.  Then, the Queen & her Court get an up-close-and-personal look at all things fun at the fair!  While most people see the fair royalty during the fair, not everyone realizes everything the program is about the rest of the summer.  Well, not to worry, because this year, YOU can experience it here, on the fair blog, thanks to our guest bloggers - the contestants themselves!  Remember those personalities I told you about?  They will shine bright as you learn all about their experiences!  You will hear from one or two different girls after each event, from their perspective, complete with pictures...  oh yeah, and code names :)  Just in case the judges stumble onto the blog, we've asked the girls to submit their posts using a fair-tastic code name, which will be just the beginning of the entertainment.  Stay tuned for a great summer...  but first, here's a quick look at Orientation!

The evening started with a group photo taken by Jeanne from The Missourian.  She captured a few shots of the girls, and then our Fair Chairman, Nathan Deppe, joined the group.  You should have seen him blush when Jeanne had all the girls blow him a kiss!  After the group pictures, each contestant got a chance to introduce themselves to the Missourian's YouTube followers.  If you missed the video, check it out below:

Finally, since the Queen Contestants are really like fair ambassadors this summer, we decided they should look the part...  In their goody bag full of paperwork, we snuck in a visor, t-shirt, and coolie cup for each of them, plus their queen contestant sash.  Have I mentioned that I totally love this group?  They immediately starting putting on the sashes and visors and were adorable, leading to this great photo op:

Seriously, the personalities :)

Anyway, that pretty much wrapped up our night.  Keep an eye out for this crew around town and in the newspaper.  They have a big summer ahead.  And don't forget to check back here to read all about it!

​The Washington Town & Country Fair is accepting applications for the 2016 Fair Queen Contest.  Contestants must be citizens of the United States, female, and a resident of Franklin or an adjoining county.  Contestants must also be a resident of Missouri for no fewer than six months as of July 15, 2016.  Contestants shall be a high school graduate, or no more than 22 years of age on September 1, 2016, and must be single.
 
The 2016 Fair Queen will receive a $2,500.00 scholarship, First Runner-up $1,000.00, Second Runner-up $750.00, and Miss Congeniality will receive a $500.00 scholarship.
 
The Queen Contest Committee has scheduled activities for all the contestants including a Contestant/Sponsor Baseball Game, “A Day of Professionalism”, “A Day Washington”, Run/Walk, and Parade.
 
Twenty-five contestants will be entered in the contest.  You can sign up at the Washington Area Chamber of Commerce office at the Fairgrounds office, Washington, MO 63090, by calling (636) 239-2715 x105, or by e-mail.