BY ANDY TAYLOR
chronicle@taylornews.org

INDEPENDENCE — Two Montgomery County 4-H youths earned the titles of king and queen of the 89th Annual Montgomery County 4-H Fair during coronation ceremonies on Tuesday night.

Held in the Independence Memorial Hall, the ceremony saw Aaron O’Brien of the Peppy Progressive 4-H Club earn the king title while Jerica Hall of the Valley Victors 4-H Club received the queen title.

They will preside over the 4-H fair events that will be held through Monday at Riverside Park in Independence.

O’Brien and Hall earned the top royalty spots by virtue of a mail-in ballot conducted by all 4-H youths in Montgomery County.

The coronation ceremony also saw several other 4-H youths earn runner-up status. Second runner-up in the king competition was Adam Lattin of the Happy Hustlers 4-H Club. Wyatt Anderson of the Fawn Creek 4-H Club received first runner-up.

In the queen competition, Abby Ewing of the Peppy Progressive 4-H Club was second runner-up while Alexa Maulsby of the Fawn Creek 4-H Club was first runner-up.

Other royalty candidates included:

• King contestants: Gabe Evans, Antonio Pearce, Coty Wilson, A.J. Capps, Mitchell Simmons and Dallas Cox.

• Queen contestants: Caitlynn Stevenson, Alex Cross, Trinnie Bush, Madison Keene, Jennifer Clark and Cheyenne Dixon.

After the coronation, the 4-H Fair Style Revue was held with several dozen 4-H youths modeling garments of all kinds under the theme “Real Cool Fashion Revue.”

Style Revue participants included Emily Lattin, Jessica Wood, Caitlynn Stevenson, Jennifer Clark, Mary Reilly, Shannon Blaes, Justin Ward, Lex Ward, Cammie Dodson, Colben Dodson, Katie Capps, Mitchell Reitz, Andrew Metcalf, Estie Monroe, Rachel Linnebur, Abby Ewing, Hannah Kaiser, Cherie Niver, Kylie Ewing, Chelsea Niver, Josie Reilly, A.J. Capps, Cassidy Anderson, Morgan Anderson and Jared Metcalf.

The 89th Annual Montgomery County 4-H Fair continues tonight (Thursday) at Riverside Park. Shown below is a schedule events:

• Thursday, July 22 — Rabbit judging, 7 p.m.; livestock entries from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

• Friday, July 23 — Entry of all indoor exhibits before noon; conference judging of all food exhibits, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; judging of indoor exhibits and poultry, 1 p.m.; conference judging of electric, photography, and woodwork projects, 1 p.m.; presentation of indoor exhibit awards, 5:45 p.m.; 4-H fair food auction, 6 p.m.; swine judging, 7 p.m.

• Saturday, July 24 — Dairy goat judging, 8 a.m.; bucket calf exhibitor interviews, 9 a.m.; dairy cattle show, 9 a.m.; conference judging of arts and crafts, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; bucket calf showmanship, 6 p.m.; beef show, 7 p.m.

• Sunday, July 25 — Inspirational celebration in the livestock show ring, 9 a.m.; kiddie tractor pull sponsored by the Montgomery County Young Farmers and Ranchers, 3 p.m.; meat goat show, followed by sheep judging, 5 p.m.; dismiss all exhibits and non-sale animals, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

• Monday, July 26 — Clean-up of fair buildings, 8 a.m.; presentation of awards, 6:45 p.m.; livestock premium sale, 7 p.m.

Watch next week’s Montgomery County Chronicle for details of the 4-H fair. The Chronicle’s annual 4-H Fair Scrapbook will be printed in the Aug. 5 edition.