The crowning of the Lorain County Junior Fair king and queen is always a memorable way to kick off festivities at the fairgrounds, and this year’s ceremony was no different.
Bailey Wise of Wellington and Michael Annadell of Brownhelm Township were named this year’s king and queen, receiving their crowns from last year’s winners, Madeline Ott of Vermilion and Armand Ortiz of Oberlin.
Wise, a 2017 graduate of Wellington High School who logged 366 hours of student community service the past four years, used her acceptance speech to tell the crowd about the hard work put in by all nine members of the royal court.
“I’m stressing out a little bit,” she said while fighting back tears during the coronation. “I just feel so bad because everybody up here deserves to win. I just want everyone to have a good day at the fair.”
A 12-year 4-H member, Wise served as president of Wellington’s FFA chapter the past two years and also on student council at WHS. She will attend the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster this fall to major in agriculture education.
“This isn’t just about one person,” she said after the ceremony. “There’s 52 members here every day in the month of August. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the rest of the Junior Fair board, my parents, and Jesus. It feels good to be queen, though. I feel like I’m a good representation of what Lorain County stands for and all the hard work put in by people every day.”
Annadell is already enrolled at Ohio State ATI and graduated from Firelands High School, where he was was a member of both 4-H and FFA. He is also the 2017 Junior Fair board president.
“I was kind of a late bloomer,” he said. “I started with Junior Fair when I was about 14. My family didn’t have a very big agricultural background. It was just always a childhood dream of mine. I wanted to expand my horizons, get into the agricultural field, and flourish in the world of beef cattle.”
He’s well on his way to accomplishing those goals, majoring in animal science with a specialization in beef production.
“With over 2,000 young exhibitors and over 100,000 people in attendance, each year at the fair is completely different than the last,” said Annadell. “Being in Junior Fair for many years has proven to be challenging yet rewarding. I’ve grown as an individual and also watched countless others find themselves right beside me.”
Mikayla Moore and Rafael Pacheco were named first runners-up for king and queen.
The ceremony was accompanied by a playing of the National Anthem and other musical selections by the Lorain County 4-H Band.
Craig Adams of WEOL awarded the 2017 Claire Hill Award to Beth Hines.
She has spent 50 years as a 4-H advisor, more than 25 years as a Junior Fair advisor, was a teacher for 35 years in LaGrange and Elyria, and will celebrate her 54th wedding anniversary next week with her husband, Lorain County fair board member Tom Hines.
“I guess you have to say the fair is in my blood and in my family’s blood,” she said. “We just love the fair. Thank you so much.”
Jonathan Delozier can be reached at 440-647-3171 or @DelozierNews on Twitter.
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