In
1994, the Illinois County Fair Queen Pageant celebrated 35 years
and said farewell to Viola and Bill with a gala back where it
all began, at the Illinois State Armory. Appropriately enough,
the queen selected that year was from Adams County and lived in
Quincy, Viola's hometown. There was a record seventy-one contestants
that year.
The
pageant and convention has grown to over 3,000 registrants. This
necessitated the Pageant's move to the adjacent Crowne Plaza Hotel
in 1996. A seventy-two foot stage is the centerpiece of the ballroom
where 1,200 dinner guests anxiously await the announcement of
the queen each year.
Selecting
the queen is the job of a highly qualified panel of five judges.
Contestants are interviewed, scored on Stage Presence, Beauty
and Physique, and Commnication Skills during preliminary competition.
Twelve finalists are named and five non-finalist awards are presented
before dinner. The finalists start the process from scratch again
after the banquet and add an on-stage interview. A first runner-up
and second runner-up are designated before the new queen is named.
The
Queen becomes a summer employee for the Illinois Department of
Agriculture as the official hostess of the Illinois and DuQuoin
State Fairs. Traveling almost every other day for ten weeks, she
is an active promoter and spokesperson. Her schedule will include
addressing the House and Senate during Agricultural/Legislative
Day at the Capital, attending the State FFA Convention and visiting
about thirty county fairs. During the State Fair, past queens
have had a wide variety of experiences including radio and TV
interviews, pie-eating contests, cow milking contests, parades,
meeting music superstars like Vince Gill and ZZ Top and special
dignitaries such as Presidents Reagan and Bush.
The
Illinois County Fair Queen will meet and greet tens of thousands
of people in her 365 day reign. She represents each contestant,
each visitor, and each volunteer at Illinois' 105 county fairs
and two state fairs. The scope of her impact is immeasurable but
we know it will be a positive presence of which all those associated
with the Illinois County Fair Queen Pageant can be proud.