RENSSELAER â The Jasper County Queen pageant was held Friday in preparation for this yearâs fair, which begins on July 20.
Eight young ladies vied for the title, with nearly 20 even younger ladies vying for the Jasper County Fair Princess crown.
This yearâs Jasper County Fair Queen is Kelsey Carpenter and the princess is Riley Rodibaugh.
Chosen as first runner-up is Kayla Tryon. Second runner-up is Katia Fedor, and Miss Congeniality is Sarah Walter.
Abigail Kozyra also notably received the Kim Balch Award. Balch was Miss Jasper County in 1990 and worked with the pageant in later years before unexpectedly passing away.
Her mother gave the award, which is $200 cash for the recipient to use âany way she wantsâ as her daughter would have wanted.
The girls competed in both professional wear and evening wear. At the pageant, the contestants introduced themselves to the audience after being escorted to the stage in the West Exhibit Hall at the fairgrounds.
The young ladies competing for Jasper County Fair Princess were each asked the same question: âWhat is your favorite thing to do at the Jasper County Fair?â
Rodibaugh said she likes to show pigs and eat pork burgers and cotton candy, to cheers from the crowd.
Each of the queen contestants were asked what words would be used to define them in the dictionary.
âIf you looked under the dictionary to define my name, you would see âoutgoingâ,â Carpenter said. âI love to make new friends and have fun.â
