Back in August of last year, 25 years after her mother was honored as White County Fair Queen, Kelsi Kessler was crowned with the same title. 167 days later, Kelsi competed in and was crowned Miss Illinois State County Fair Queen.
Kelsi says winning the crown and participating in the State pageant Sunday was, for her, less about the competition and more about self growth…
“It was really just about self growth. I really let myself have a fantastic time. I got there on Wednesday afternoon to get moved in and just get ready for the weekend because we start practice on Thursday morning at 8 o’clock. We have to have our wardrobe approved by the pageant crew. We have to practice, take official pictures, and we also do a production number at the beginning of finals night.and that took a lot of work but it was so awesome. The weekend was just a blast. I met so many awesome girls, intelligent and so fun to be around. I’ve seen so many articles produced as well and girls have just really felt the same way I have. It was really less about competing and just more about meeting people and growing ourselves more into being able to speak better and getting to know more people. It was definitely less about the competition and more about self growth and just the feeling of accomplishment and being able to say, ‘Hey, I did the best I possibly could and I am really happy with that.”
Kelsi says there was a lot that went into the competition and a lot of preparation for the pageant, but aside from higher stakes and a few additional events, it was much like competing on the county level.
Kessler currently attends the University of Illinois, Champaign – where she is a business major.
She will be a summer employee of the Department of Agriculture and will travel to about 30 county fairs.
She will also be the official hostess of the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the DuQuoin State Fair.
You can find more information on Kelsi’s State Fair Queen Pageant experience in her open line interview coming up here in just a few minutes and posted online on our website later today.
