DANVILLE — Kelsey Covey's on a winning streak.
Last year she won the 4-H Supreme Showman competition at the Hendricks County Fair. This year she'll serve as the 4-H queen.
Covey, an 18-year-old Danville Community High School student, beat out 35 other contestants for the honor Wednesday night at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex. It was her third attempt at the title.
"It's unreal," Covey said after the contest. "I don't even know how to explain it. It hasn't really sunk in yet. There are so many emotions right now."
Given her experience in the competition, Covey thought she had a shot at the crown.
"All these contestants out here were remarkable, gorgeous women, and I thought we all had a chance at it," she said.
Another surprising fact about Covey is that she's a first-generation 4-Her. This is her 10th year in the program.
"I've learned how to be responsible and compete with others," said Covey, who's also active in basketball, volleyball, track, and FFA. "It's an awesome opportunity."
She succeeds Rachel Douglass as queen. A Pittsboro resident and Tri-West High School graduate, Douglass is now a student at Indiana University. She reminisced about being queen before taking one last stroll down the runway.
"I've had so many great memories from the past year," she said, including getting stuck in the mud at the fair, having her sash fall apart, and being teased that she was going to get struck by lightning while wearing a metal crown on her head.
She remembers one person saying they were counting on her to win that crown before last year's pageant. Her reply was, "I don't know. I'm just going to go have fun."
That's exactly what she did. Douglass, who won the crown on her fourth try, dreamt of being queen after seeing Beth Gentry, a role model of hers, win in 2003. Gentry served as an emcee at this year's contest.
"I saw how much fun she had during the week of the fair," Douglass said. "I hoped that would be me someday. My dream came true seven years later."
Dawn West, a co-chair of the queen contest committee, remarked at how competitive this year's pageant was.
"I would not have wanted to be one of the judges," she said. "It was probably the stiffest competition we've had in quite a few years. The judges even said it was one of the hardest they've ever judged."
It takes a lot of preparation. Workshops start at the beginning of June and contestants meet every Thursday. They practice such aspects as walking, talking, and interviewing. That may not seem overly complicated, but it is when you're a queen. West also notes that every one of the contestants are 4-Hers. They aren't part of the beauty pageant circuit. They play sports and show animals at fairs.
"High heels and long dresses and skirts are not their forte," West said. "It takes quite a bit of time (to prepare)."
But what they get out of it helps them for the rest of their lives.
"It's helped me gain so much confidence and make new friends," Covey said.
West says every person on the stage is a winner.
"They got up there in front of 900 people and walked down that runway," she said. "For some of them, that took a lot of breathing and a lot of practice to do that. I felt like a proud mom tonight. I had 36 little girls that we turned into princesses."
Kristin Anderson was awarded first queen runner-up and Miss Congeniality. Second runner-up went to Patia Storms. Ashlynn Moodie of Brownsburg was named 2011 Little Miss Hendricks County. The Little Mister title went to Lizton's Bennett Schirmer.
wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com
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