As the crown placed on her cowboy hat, she reflected on all the work it took to get to this moment. But for junior Faith Nicols, the work has just started. Being committed to the livestock industry, attending rodeo events, and representing the Montgomery County Fair are just some of the characteristics to being a fair queen.
Nichols was crowned Montgomery County Fair queen on March ???. This concluded months and months of the process of running for fair queen.
“I have been in 4-H for six years, and have been an officer in the club for five years,” Nichols said. “I have been showing my dog, Shadow, for as long as I’ve been in the club. I’ve held the positions of secretary, 1st vice, and 2nd vice. Without 4-H, the opportunity to participate in the fair wouldn’t have been presented. I started entering baking items into the fair a couple years after I joined the club.”
The crowning of the queen is an exciting night, but the fair is full of events for the court to participate in.
“My favorite memory was the little events that we did throughout the journey and it made me get really close to the other candidates.” fair queen candidate Kaylee Corley said.
Being a fair queen comes with big preparation and being able to talk in front of a lot of people and in front of judges.
“To get inspiration for my speech I went to see my Pa,” Nichols said. “My Pa, Anthony Nichols, raises Simmental cattle for breeding, meat, and showing. I asked him questions about his previous involvement in the fair and his current stance in the organization. Being there talking to him, I realized that my parents and my dad’s side of the family are the reason I am involved in the fair and have a foot in the livestock world.”
The fair queen candidates each gave a speech to the judges and fair crowd.
“The prompt for the speech was, ‘What does the Montgomery County Fair and Rodeo mean to me?’ ” Nichols said. “In exploring many ideas for my speech, I found what the fair truly means to me, and that is my family. The fair is the largest influence in my life and contributes many positive aspects while also presenting many amazing opportunities for growth in my life.”
Running for queen takes a lot of work. Nichols prepped for the event by prepping her speech while working on her getting her presentation skills up to par.
“I wrote my speech and began practicing,” Nichols said. “I’ve prepared public speaking in the past so I was able to prepare my speech in an efficient manner. The way that is best for me is to read a sentence while looking at my speech, then look away while reciting what I just read. I start with one sentence and once that one is memorized I add another, and so on. Once everything was memorized I practiced walking and doing some hand motions wile I gave my speech. What’s funny is that I was repeatedly to give my speech to an audience or to a small group, but I only gave my speech to my boyfriend twice. When I got up on that stage I wasn’t nervous or scared. Everyone is different, some people require practice in the same environment or setting that the final presentation will be given, but I apparently didn’t,” Nichols said.
Fair queens are really one of the most looked up people at the fair every year because of their leadership and manners.
“I chose to run for fair queen because I love to lead and be an example for younger kids and I love when kids look up to me to do better,” Corley said.
