The Great Geauga County Fair
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Middlefield Post By Kelli Briggs
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ct i 1 on
Aug. 19, 2015
My Experience as 2014 Geauga County Fair Queen
nchanting, overwhelming, exciting and a dream come true are words I can use to describe my experience as the 2014 Geauga County Fair Queen. The year started off slow since most county fairs in the state had already happened. My first event was in January at The Ohio Fair Managers Associations Queens’ Competition in Columbus where 74 out of the 96 fairs in Ohio were represented and in competition to become the 2015 Ohio Fairs’ Queen. We arrived on Wednesday night and had a social evening learning what to expect throughout the weekend and listening to the experiences the 2014 Fairs’ Queen had. Throughout the rest of the week we had interviews, formal dinners, etiquette lessons, and a pageant style introduction in front of attending Senior Fairboard members. After interviews it went from 74 contestants, to 16, the 16 then picked from a bowl and had a word given to them, they then had to explain what that word meant to them. From the 16 it was then narrowed to five and the
five completed another round of interviews on Friday and then Saturday morning the queen was announced in front of Junior and Senior Fairboards from all over the state. While I didn’t make the top 16, I had an amazing experience and got to meet some really outstanding individuals. At the start of the summer, after a hectic last few days of senior year I attended my first fair as queen and the first fair in the state. It was a four-hour ride with a few obstacles (mainly my GPS losing service near Bowling Green) but I made it to Paulding County ready to go. The people were so nice, everyone wanting to hear about our fair, inviting me to pass out ribbons and participate in their events, and giving me a tour of their fairgrounds. Their fair may be small, but t h e y h ave o u t s t a n d i n g member participation a n d e nt h u s i a s m . S i n ce then I have visited Warren, Trumbull, and Medina Continued on page 3
Kelli Briggs enjoyed new friends at the 2015 Medina Conty fair.(MP Photo/ Briggs)