The 2024 Greene County Fair came to a close this past Monday with the Junior Fair Premium Auction.
The premium auction allows businesses, organizations and individuals to give money to 4-H’ers in recognition for their exhibits and shows at the county fair. Greene County Fair Board Secretary Doug Hawn tells Raccoon Valley Radio a total of $35,775 was given to all youth, which was higher than last year of over $32,000. Greene County ISU Extension 4-H and Youth Coordinator Samantha Hardaway was excited to see one of the highest numbers of entries for youth at this year’s county fair.
“Makes me feel pretty great. We put in a lot of hard work of recruiting kids, and getting them active, and getting them to join 4-H. This is where all of their hard work comes to an end, so I commend all of those kids, the families, the parents, the family-friends that help encourage those kids to get started and active in things at the Greene County Fair.”
One of the other main highlights is the Fair Queen contest and this year, the crown went to Grace Hardaway. She described her initial reaction the night she was declared the winner.
“I am just so happy. Honestly, I wasn’t sure who was going to get it, so I was going to be happy either way. But this is just so amazing to be crowned your guys Greene County Fair Queen.”
Another new addition was the Little Miss and Mister contest, where Greene County Fair Board Vice President Katlynn Mechaelsen says there were 14 entries for that. The inaugural winners were Ella Hardin as Little Miss and Myles Hedges as Little Mister. Mechaelsen believes this was a success for the first year.
“It was so exciting and so fun. Watching them strut their stuff and get up there and just build that confidence at that young level. It meant the world to me to see that younger generation come up, stand on stage, I was so pleased, so excited, and I cannot wait until next year.”
Additionally, 30 static exhibits qualified for the Iowa State Fair in August. All results from the county fair, including the static exhibit qualifiers, can be found by clicking the link below.