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On a balmy Tuesday evening, four
elegant and talented queen contestants, eight delightful junior
misses and seventeen adorable little misses from competed for the
chance to represent Logan County at the fair and other events
throughout the year.
In his nineteenth year as Master of Ceremonies, Cameron Kurtz
welcomed everyone to the 87th anniversary of the queen pageant, 18th
anniversary of the little miss pageant and 10th anniversary of the
junior miss pageant. He expressed thanks to numerous businesses,
sponsors, fair board and other volunteers who made the event
possible throughout the evening.
Queen Julia sang the National Anthem to kick off the evening’s
events.
2025 Logan County Fair Queen Julia Collins was escorted to the stage
by her father Josh.
Queen Julia welcomed everyone, saying, “We have some wonderful
contestants backstage who are so excited to show you how they have
prepared.” Queen Julia was excited to be celebrating the 90th
anniversary of the Logan County Fair and told everyone to sit back,
relax and enjoy the show.
For their opening number, queen candidates glided across the stage
to Taylor Swift’s “Opalite.”
The candidates competing for the title of Logan County Fair Queen
included:
Ivy Sandel of Lincoln. Daughter of Sarah and Ryan Guyett. Ivy will
be a sophomore at Illinois State University this fall where she is
studying medical laboratory science.
Kristy Morrow of Lincoln. Daughter of Kristen Green, David Morrow
and Terence Puffer. Kristy will be a sophomore at the University of
Illinois in Urbana-Champaign this fall studying agricultural
consumer economics.
Grace Carter of Atlanta. Daughter of Samantha and Adam Nagrocki.
Grace will be a freshman at the University of Kentucky at Lexington
this fall where she will be majoring in elementary education.
Reece Winebrinner of Lincoln.
Daughter of Tiffany and Aaron Winebrinner. Reece will be a sophomore
at Illinois College in Jacksonville, where she is pursuing a degree
in Criminal Justice.
To display communication skills, 40 percent of the score, queen
contestants spoke on a topic of their choice. One topic included
learning to ignore stereotypes after discovering how sororities
create strong independent women who push you to grow. Others
discussed pushing out negative thoughts and looking for the light,
seeing the impact teachers make and wanting to shape the future and
being brave when pursuing your own path.
For the pop question, contestants were asked, “what is one value you
hope never goes out of style?”
Answers included kindness and creating a loving community, balance
and prioritizing our family, work, happiness and mental health and
not taking your family for granted.
The rest of the scoring was based on an earlier interview and an
evening gown competition.
The local Junior Miss competition began in 2017 for girls aged nine
to 12. In 2018, the age range was changed to girls 11 to 13.
2025 Logan County Junior Miss Courtney Cecil was escorted to the
stage by her father Tommy. She welcomed everyone and said all the
contestants had worked very hard the last few weeks, so she told
everyone to sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Junior Miss contestants glided across the stage to Miranda Lambert’s
“If I Were a Cowboy.”
This year’s Junior Miss contestants included:
Hinley Schneider, Falyn Farmer, Sadie Goodma, Olivia Wrage, Raegan
Anderson, Sofia Farmer, Savannah Rawlins and Harper Tripplett. They
are all from Lincoln.
Fifty percent of the Junior Miss scores came from an earlier
interview, twenty-five percent came from the communication portion,
and the final twenty-five percent is stage presence.
For communication skills, each Junior Miss discussed their favorite
activities including cheer, basketball, volleyball, track, dance,
showing animals, fishing, baking, farming, musicals and reading.
Before the Little Miss contestants were introduced, 2025 Little Miss
Vayda Farmer was escorted to the stage by her father Brandon.
This year’s Little Miss contestants were:
Piper Haffner, Raelyn Freed, Millie Mason, Tayah Matheny, Quinn
Fink, Ava Bunn, Emmylou McCree, Layla Schreiner, Finley Farmer,
Murphy O’Donoghue, Brynlee Bossingham, Camryn Neitzel, Eislee Bolen,
Kynlee Adams, Braylen Lee, Remy Rohrer and Liliana Glenn.
Little Miss contestants were judged largely on an earlier interview,
which made up 75 percent of their score. The remaining 25 percent of
the score came from their stage presence.
As always, the Little Miss contestants provided some sweet moments
as they introduced themselves, telling their ages, where they live
and their favorite parts of the fair including rides, games, showing
animals, the petting zoo and eating corndogs.
Time between sections was filled by special guests including queens,
junior misses, little misses and others with titles from various
Illinois counties such as Menard, Mason, McLean and towns like
Farmer City. They all stood up to be recognized and waved at the
crowd.
Other guests included several
former Logan County Fair Queens, Junior Misses and Little Misses
from over the years.
Before results were announced, the outgoing 2025 royalty gave
farewell speeches.
Little Miss Vayda said, “I cannot believe my year as Little Miss
Logan County has come to an end. It has been an amazing year full of
memories. Some favorite opportunities were passing out ribbons, the
Pink Pumpkin auction, all the parades and cheering on Queen Julia at
state, where she did a great job.” Vayda then thanked the fair
board, pageant directors and her family for all their support and
talked about how much she loved her sash sisters for making her
laugh. As for the new Little Miss, “you are going to have the best
time making memories.”
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Junior Miss Courtney said it is so
hard to believe this incredible year is coming to an end. Being
junior miss was such an honor and wearing the crown and sash has
meant so much to me. Representing the county has taught me about
where I live and about myself as I met many amazing people and
attended fun events. She thanked the fair board, pageant committee,
the community and all who made everything possible, her family and
friends for being by her side. Courtney said her sash sisters were
very special to her with Vayda bringing bright joy to her and
growing up so much this year and Julia being the greatest role model
who was always supportive and helpful. She wished the next Junior
Miss the best of luck and hoped she would have an amazing year.
In her farewell speech, Queen Julia said, “I was five the first time
I stepped onto this stage after my parents entered me in the Little
Miss pageant. It has been a fifteen year journey for me. My reign
was the first trifecta in the county, and it is an honor I have not
taken lightly. Three goals, three crowns and memories I will cherish
forever. So many people have shaped me.”
Queen Julia then expressed appreciation to the fair board, her first
two sash sisters Kelsey (Ubbenga Meeker) and Molly (Schempp Knerrer),
pageant crew, siblings, friends and parents. She has special
memories of sash sisters, Vayda and Courtney. Julia said Junior Miss
Courtney’s poise, maturity and kind heart were inspiring and she saw
Courtney grow so much this year. Little Miss Vayda’s enthusiasm and
infectious smile were one of the highlights of the year. She said
Vayda is so witty and she has unforgettable memories of their times
at the fair.
Finally, the judges’ decisions were announced.
Grace Carter was crowned 2026 Miss
Logan County Fair Queen; Falyn Farmer was crowned Junior Miss Logan
County and Finley Farmer was crowned as the new Little Miss Logan
County.
The first Runner-Up for queen was
Kristy Morrow, who won the Dean Bruns Memorial Miss Congeniality
Award.
The Crowd’s Choice was Grace Carter
Reece Winebrinner sold the most raffle tickets and connected with
the most businesses.
Other awards for the Junior Miss contest were First Runner-Up Sadie
Goodman and Second Runner Up Olivia Wrage
Savannah Rawlins sold the most raffle tickets and was also chosen as
Miss Congeniality. Crowd’s Choice winner was Sadie Goodman.
Other awards for the Little Miss contest were First Runner-Up Tayah
Matheny and Second Runner-Up Piper Haffner. Crowd’s Choice was Ava
Bunner, most raffle tickets sold was Layla Schreiner and most
photogenic was Quinn Fink.
This fall, Queen Grace, who is a 2026 Olympia High School graduate,
will attend the University of Kentucky at Lexington where she will
be majoring in elementary education. Her goal is to one day return
to Logan County to teach the next generation of students. In high
school, she was active in volleyball, basketball and soccer in
addition to being a member of the student council and National Honor
Society.
For the first time, two of the sash sisters are sisters in real life
with Junior
Miss Falyn being an older sister to Little Miss Finley. A name like
Farmer also makes them good ones to help preside over fair events.
Queen Grace, Junior Miss Falyn and Little Miss Finley 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 Grace competing in January for the title of Miss Illinois
County Fair.
Little Miss Logan County Fair pageant photo slideshow part 1
Little Miss Logan County Fair pageant photo slideshow part 2
Junior Miss Logan County Fair pageant photo slideshow part 1
Miss Logan County Fair pageant photo slideshow part 1
Miss Logan County Fair pageant photo slideshow part 2
[Angela Reiners] |
