Fair queen excited to represent county

For senior Josie Schlachter, this year could be her last for participating in certain events within Phillips County.

One of those events is being fair queen at Phillips County Fair.

“I mean, it feels like a lot of responsibility ‘cause I’m like representing our county. But I’m also excited to be involved with the fair,” she said about being fair queen.

Schlachter said that being a representative for the county through being fair queen means that she is showing other counties what Phillips County is like.

“It means showing that we’re a good county and we have dedicated kids in 4-H and FFA. Just kind of showing the counties this is Phillips County. We are good and professional at what we do,” she said about representing the county.

Last year, there was no fair queen. Being lady in waiting at the time made Schlachter a pseudo fair queen. Schlachter said that she had similar responsibilities last year when she was a lady in waiting as she does now.

Although the pandemic canceled a lot of other events across the country, the fair still happened in person last year.

“We actually carried on fair as normal last year. The county commissioners gave us the go-ahead, and we pretty much had fair as normal. We were really lucky,” Schlachter said about last year’s fair.  

Being fair queen means that Schlachter will be at all of the competitions during the fair, handing out ribbons to the winners and making grand entrances holding flags before events such as the Bulls Gone Wild event.

Schlachter will ride in the parade in town, but she will also participate in other parades within the county.

When it is fair time, Schlachter said that some of her favorite parts of the fair are the swine showmanship which she also participates in, doing grand entrances for the concert and rodeo, and the expressions from children when they see her in her full queen attire.

With her attire, Schlachter will be wearing a queen tiara which has been passed down from other fair queens.

Being a senior means that there are academic events that she will be doing for the last time as well.

Before she walks at graduation, Schlachter said that she wants to be in a high school drama production.

“It’s on my bucket list to be in a play,” she said about wanting to try out for theater.

Swimming for the winter team and summer club are events Schlachter will also be participating in for the last time before she goes to college.

“I’m a little nervous because I don’t know what I want to do yet or where I want to go, but I’m excited to kind of figure things out,” she said about graduating this year.

Schlachter is the daughter of Luke and Shannon Schlachter of Holyoke.

To see Schlachter as fair queen, visit the Phillips County Fair July 20-25.