T-R PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ Wednesday evening, Madelynn “Madde” Green was crowned the 2018 Central Iowa Fair Queen. Green, 19, is the daughter of Lisa and Loren Green of State Center. She just completed her freshmen year at DMACC. Her plan is to get a business degree from DMACC and then transfer to Iowa State University for agricultural education.

The excitement was palpable as a group of seven young ladies and eight little girls competed for the chance to be crowned the Central Iowa Fair Queen and Little Miss Princess during this year’s annual coronation ceremony, held Wednesday evening at the fairgrounds.

Denny Grabenbauer again served as emcee. He highlighted each of the contestants’ accomplishments, providing some biographical information.

“Every year I continue to say, I’m so impressed by our young ladies in this county, and you as parents, grandparents and friends, have to be proud of these girls,” he said.

The 2017 Fair Queen Kaitlin Wiley and Little Miss Princess Lauren O’Neal made their final public appearances in their roles, and helped to introduce this year’s roster.

First, eight youngsters were brought out for the Little Miss Princess honor. Contestants were in grades kindergarten through third, and the winner was chosen via a random drawing. Bria Pfantz, 8, was the lucky winner. She attends West Marshall Elementary School.

“I’m proud of myself and I’m really happy that I won,” she said.

Decked out in ball gowns, the contestants for the honor of fair queen then made their way onto the stage. After being introduced, each one told the audience about a fair event they don’t want anyone to miss. To be eligible to compete, the young ladies first applied for the contest, attended an orientation meeting at Stalzer’s Photography, then underwent interviews (on June 25) at the Marshall Co. Extension Office.

Madelynn “Madde” Green was crowned the 2018 Central Iowa Fair Queen, with Malorie Blink coming in as First Runner-up. Ryleigh Thompson came away with the Miss Photogenic award. The Miss Congeniality honor went to Ally Lamer.

The other contestants were Emily Pansegrau, Jessley Ash and Ashlen Young.

Green, 19, is the daughter of Lisa and Loren Green of State Center. She just completed her freshmen year at DMACC. Her plan is to get a business degree from DMACC and transfer to Iowa State University for agricultural education.

“I’m so excited and I can’t wait to see what comes for this upcoming year, and can’t thank everybody enough for this opportunity,” Green said.

Blink, 17, will be a senior at West Marshall High School in the fall.

“I plan on going to DMACC for an ag business degree, then transferring to Iowa State to get a larger degree in the ag business field,” she said.

All contestants went home with a gift bag filled with prizes and gift cards from county businesses, valued at $200. This year’s winners will participate in the ice cream eating contest, and be present for the nightly activities throughout the duration of the fair. Green and Bria will represent Marshall County during this year’s Iowa State Fair.

The queen contest was coordinated by Jodi Breniman, who is the fair board vice president.

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Contact Sara Jordan-Heintz

at 641-753-6611 or

sjordan@timesrepublican.com