Ashland County crowns junior fair king and queen

ASHLAND – The 166^th Ashland County Fair junior fair pageant has new royalty.

Hillsdale High School senior Braxton Slagle and Crestview High School junior Elly Motter were selected the fair’s new king and queen Sunday, immediately after the fair’s opening ceremony.

“I’m really proud because my sister, Abby, won fair queen, too. So, I’m excited to carry on the tradition of being fair queen in my family,” said Motter.

“She always encouraged me to do it, she felt like I could do it myself and said I had the qualities as a leader that I needed to run for queen, so I decided to run,” Motter said.

The 16-year-old is a member of Savannah Hard Workers 4-H Club, student council, National Honor Society, the Crestview FFA chapter and the Crestview High School volleyball team.

She is showing a market hog and still project at this year’s fair.

During the on-stage portion of the competition, Motter was asked how she’d explain her participation in 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America) to a member of Congress.

“I would tell them that FFA is a great way to meet people and to also share and tell our story of agriculture,” she said. “If we didn’t tell them about agriculture, we wouldn’t be able to get the funding and the money to feed the world’s population.”

Motter said she looks forward to meeting the community throughout the week.

“I’m looking forward to attending all the shows here and to walking around the fair and talking with everyone,” she said.

Slagle, 17, of Ashland is also excited about the week ahead.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I’m ready for this week, the year and all the good opportunities.”

Slagle is a member of the Hillsdale FFA Chapter, the Hillsdale High School football and track teams and National Honor Society. In his spare time, he enjoys restoring vintage vehicles and participating in other outdoor activities.

He is showing a market hog and several still projects at the fair.

During the competition, Slagle was asked to choose a superpower he’d like to possess. He responded by expressing a desire to be “super-smart,” so that he could better help the community and find cures for disease.

The winners were chosen based on on-stage questions and interviews that took place earlier this year.

Others who competed for the titles were Chandler Petush, Russell-James Gebhart and Wyatt Fliger for king and Autumn Spring, Leah Miller and Shawna Barr for queen.

“I think all the contestants did a fantastic job,” said Stacy Koch, contest coordinator. “We had a lot of really well-spoken young ladies – the competition was pretty tough – and this was the first year in a long time that we’ve had five guys.”