Four vying for 2016 County Fair Queen

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The 2016 Queen’s Tea will be held Tuesday to decide which one of four young ladies will be the next Fayette County Fair Queen

The tea will be held at the Mahan Building on the fairgrounds. The interviews start at 5 p.m. and are held privately to allow each lady the chance to present themselves to the judge. The four vying for the position are Virginia Schappacher, Ginna Climer, Alexis Schwartz and Bethany Reiterman. Following the private interviews, each potential queen will be asked a question during a public speaking event.

Each lady has had a history in 4-H and also shared a bit of experience from school or other extracurricular activities:

– Virginia Schappacher is the daughter of Leo and Mari Schappacher. She recently graduated from high school and will be attending Southern State Community College in the fall and major in nursing. Throughout her ten years of 4-H, Schappacher has completed numerous projects including clothing, dairy cattle, special interests, dairy goats, engineering, self-determined and miscellaneous projects. She enjoys participating in the 4-H Health and Safety Speaking contest, is an active member of the Pigs-N-Things 4-H club, is a three year Junior Fair Board member, six year member of the Family Consumer Science Board, a member of Teen Leadership Council and is a past Ohio State 4-H Ambassador.

Her favorite part about the fair is watching exhibitors come back and seeing how much they have worked and improved over the last year to make their best better. Schappacher is also active at her school where she is currently serving as vice president of Student Council, a teacher’s aide, a member of the Agriculture Club and is on the honor roll. Schappacher would like to wish all 2016 Fayette County Junior Fair participants the best of luck as they prepare for this year’s Fayette County Fair.

– Ginna Climer, in the last year, has had the opportunity to be involved in numerous opportunities not only in Fayette county but also in the country as a whole. In June of 2015, she was crowned the 2015-2016 National Milking Shorthorn Queen which has allowed her to travel to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and soon to Dublin to give her Farewell Speech. Through that experience, she has also been able to promote the Milking Shorthorn Breed and the livestock industry through interviews and conversations in the show barns.

On the county level she is in her fourth year of service on the Fayette County Junior Fair Board, now in the Cattle department. She has also been challenged with finding a new 4-H club last year but believes that she found a great match when she enrolled in the Pigs-N-Things 4-H Club. Through FFA Climer once again received the chapter leadership and scholarship awards and was blessed to receive the Bennett Family scholarship. In school she completed her senior year being ranked 9th in the class with a 3.67 GPA and also completed her second year in the National Honors Society. She has been given the opportunity to run for the 2016 Fayette County Junior Fair Queen position and said she hopes that this will be a humbling experience to all involved.

– Bethany Reiterman, has been involved in 4-H for nine years and has market hog, horse, and cooking, projects. In 2012, she won Grand Champion Overall Market Hog and has won numerous awards through showing her horse as well. Reiterman has been a 4-H Camp Counselor and Junior Fair Board member representing the horse department for four years. She was also involved in many state level 4-H leadership boards such as Teen Advisory Council, State 4-H

Ambassador, and is serving on the 2016 and 2017 State Junior Fair Board at the Ohio State Fair. Through her involvement in 4-H, I have built new relationships with many people, opened many doors to new opportunities and discovered a strong passion for the agriculture industry. She believes that with her experience being the 2015 Fayette County Horse Queen, she will make a great 2016 Fayette County Junior Fair Queen.

– Alexis Schwartz is the daughter of Bret and Robin Schwartz and just recently graduated from Miami Trace High School. She is planning to attend the University of Kentucky in the fall to major in Equine Science & Management. In High School she was involved in Science Club, Art Club, Spanish Club, FCCLA, FCA, Key Club, and was a MITRA Yearbook Staff Member. Her Senior year, she was also very active in FFA competing in Urban Soil Judging, Job Interview, Vet Science, and Dairy Cattle Judging.

Along with all these things Schwartz had time to squeeze sports into the schedule. She is a four-year varsity letterman in both softball and basketball. In the summer, she stays busy with her own rabbitry of 200 rabbits that are bred to raise and sell market pen projects to local 4-Hers to show at the fair. Showing at the County Fair, she has been very successful over the years. I have been able to show in Showman of Showman three times and won the Overall Rabbits Showman, produced multiple “Best in Shows,” and was able to sell the Grand Champion Market Rabbits. Schwartz said she is look forward to seeing everyone come out and support the youth at the Fayette County Junior Fair this year and wishes all exhibitors the best of luck.

The fair board will be bringing the 137th Fayette County Fair to the fairgrounds from July 18-23 for a week full of rides, 4-H shows and McDonald’s Grandstand attractions. The attractions will include a stock truck pull, Signature Series Harness Racing, NTPA Truck and Tractor Pull, Nation-wide Demo Derby and the new Koi Dirt Drag Racing.

The Record-Herald will be publishing the 137th Fayette County Fair Preview section on July 14. The section will include stories on the 2016 Fair Queen, attractions coming to the fair, a complete schedule of events and photos from previous fairs.

Virginia Schappacher
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/06/web1_Picture-Miss-Virginia-Schappacher.jpgVirginia Schappacher

Alexis Schwartz
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/06/web1_Picture-Miss-Alexis-Schwartz.jpgAlexis Schwartz

Bethany Reiterman
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/06/web1_Picture-Miss-Bethany-Reiterman.jpgBethany Reiterman

Ginna Climer
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/06/web1_Picture-Miss-Ginna-Climer.jpgGinna Climer

By Martin Graham

[email protected]

Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy

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