Newly crowned fair queen enjoys participating in events
GOSHEN — Since being crowned the 2024 Elkhart County Fair Queen a week ago, Rebecca Brewer has done it all, from catching chickens at the 4-H Poultry Fly-Off event to judging the dairy costume contest to helping deliver a baby calf.
And she’s met a lot of people.
Brewer says she usually starts her interactions with younger children with a compliment.
“I usually start with a compliment because you can see kind of out of the corner of your eye a little girl or little boy who is looking at you and it makes them feel more comfortable if you say, ‘Oh my goodness! I love your hair! You’re so beautiful!’” Brewer said. “Because it’s always true.”
She says she always looked up to the fair queens of the past, so she understands kids now being excited to see her.
“So, I knew what it meant when I won and I was just ecstatic when I got the opportunity to do that,” Brewer said.
The days can be long for Brewer. She said she gets to the fair around 7:15 in the morning and goes home around 11:30 p.m. to midnight. She added she loves being a part of the fair and the long days are worth it to her.
Brewer, a 2021 graduate of Northridge High School, works as a cosmetologist and team lead at The Getaway Salon, and is a volunteer farm animal educator. She competed against 44 other girls in the pageant, and noted during the contest that she enjoys singing and performing for others and hunts for deer, coyotes, squirrels and foxes in their seasons. She was sponsored by Superior Axle.
Brewer said she got to make meaningful friendships through the pageant process. She said the contest is not really a competition at all because the girls build one another up.
“We always tell the girls when they start the competition in our first meeting that everybody wants to win,” Mary Dale, fair queen pageant director, said. “One person will win the crown, but you all … are a queen of some sort because you wear a sash and you’re representing someone.”
When Brewer was crowned fair queen, she said her jaw dropped to the floor. She also stated she is grateful for the opportunity and for the people who make the fair possible.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity,” Brewer said. “All the people that put in their time here and come through the gates and also stay nights and make sure the fair is able to run. The president, the board, and the 4-H organizers. Thankful for everything they do to make this fair possible for everyone and myself to enjoy.”
The nine-day 2024 Elkhart County 4-H Fair ends Saturday.