By Luthea Sweeney, staff writer

After her crowning as Crawford County Fair Queen in August, senior Rachel White went on to represent Crawford County in the PA State Fair Queen Contest held January 20-22 in Hershey, Pa. The contest is held to choose an ambassador and representative for Pennsylvania agriculture and tourism. Unlike traditional pageants, this wasn’t about just beauty, and the contestants were dressed in business casual for the majority of the event. 

According to White, the contest provided an amazing experience. “This isn’t a cutthroat competition,” White said. “All of the 53 other candidates are absolute sweethearts.” In fact, she found friendship with the other contestants and has continued to communicate with them via a large group chat of girls ages 16-22. 

The pageant included girls from fairs across the state. The judging events began Thursday with a small orientation and an onstage interview where White introduced herself as a “girl from a small town with more roundabouts than traffic lights.” 

On Friday, White attended a private interview with the judges and worked a basket raffle in her free time. On the final day, she gave a speech to a small audience and later attended the coronation banquet of Anna Haldeman from the Manheim Community Farm Show, who was named the 2022 PA Fair Queen

Although White did not place, she would be happy to attend again as the experience provided, in her words, “a definite learning curve that you can’t get anywhere else.”