Royalty

Schaefer, Leistner chosen Miami County Fair queen, king
By Danae King
For the Miami Valley Sunday News as printed on TDN-net.com

Saturday the contestants for Miami County Fair queen and king gathered at the fairgrounds for the Junior Fair King and Queen and Prince and Princess contests. Kaylee Schaefer and Martin Leistner were crowned fair queen and king and Cole Mergler and Hope Shiltz were named fair prince and princess, after a series of questions and a round of eliminations.

The judges for the event were Joanie Fischbach, Jeff Layman and Mary Shoup. All contestants were judged on personality, attire and activities and the judges met with the contestants for individual interviews prior to the competition. Queen and king contestants had to be 14-18 years of age, and prince and princess contestants had to be ages 5 to 8. All contestants had to be nominated by a 4-H Club, FFA Chapter, FCCLA Chapter, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Junior Leader Club.

Queen Schaefer has been a part of Miami East Future Farmers of America for four years and was in 4-H for seven years prior to that. She previously showed rabbits and goats but this year her exhibit was of an electrical board and small box for FFA. In the fall, Schaefer plans to attend Kent State University to study fashion design.

She said her favorite part of the fair was watching others enjoy it. "I like Kids' Day because my cousins are little, so they can't have stuff in the fair yet but they get to come out and enjoy the fair as much as I do," Schaefer said. "It's a good way for the kids to get involved."

Schaefer's sister was awarded fair queen in 2005, so Schaefer was even more excited to win herself. "I've always been in the fair, so I've always looked up to the queen," Schaefer said. "My sister was fair queen in 2005, so she's had bragging rights over me for some time now." Schaefer also is looking forward to the opportunity to meet new people that being fair queen will grant her.

Fair king Leistner has been in 4-H for 10 years and showed rabbits. He also has pencil drawings in the art hall this year. In the fall, Leistner plans to go to Edison Community College to earn his associate's degree. After that he wishes to transfer to the University of Cincinnati for aerospace engineering.
He appreciates the fair because of all the animals, games and rides.

"It's also a great honor to be crowned king," Leistner said. Schaefer and Leistner were both enthusiastic about being crowned queen and king.  Schaefer said she and Leistner didn't know each other before Saturday. "But we're going to be best friends," she added.

Both Schaefer and Leistner graduated high school in 2011 and will be going on to college.
The fair prince and princess were only asked to answer a single question during the competition, one about their favorite part of the fair. Mergler, fair prince, is a part of the Farrow to Finish 4-H Club, and Shiltz, fair princess, is involved with Concord Odds & Ends 4H.

This year's winners were presented with tiaras for the girls and baseball hats for the boys, as well as sashes by last year's fair queen, king and princess, who also gave a presentation and a bit of advice to the contestants.

Click here to view album of the 2011 Royalty Contest.

OTHER MIAMI COUNTY FAIR ROYALTY INCLUDES...