Queen Contest Kick-Off!

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:

Then the girls moved inside to meet the Queen Committee and some of the Fair staff, and learned more about all of the events planned for the summer.  There was also a presentation on season ticket sales, which we will go into more detail about in a later post.  Long story short - Our queens would love to sell you a season pass :)

After that, there was a quick ice breaker where the girls introduced themselves and answered either a) What is your favorite fair food? or b) What was your favorite fair concert?  Spoiler Alert - there are lots of waffle & ice cream sandwich lovers in the group, and they love their country music!

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!

---