BROWNSTOWN — The Jackson County Fair wraps up another successful eight-day run later tonight with the running of the 11th annual Paul Crockett Memorial at Brownstown Speedway.

Mother Nature did her part to help the fair run about as smoothly as it could.

“It’s really been a good week,” fair board President Matt Boknecht said on Friday. “The good Lord has blessed us with this weather. It’s usually a lot hotter and muggier.”

Although it was still a little hot this week, it cooled off some in the evenings. On Wednesday, a thunderstorm passed just south of the fairgrounds — the only hint of rain the entire week.

“That puts everybody in a better mood,” Boknecht said. “They’re not as tired and cranky. It’s a totally different atmosphere.”

He said everyone involved with the fair from the food vendors, project exhibitors, the entertainers and the support staff did a good job.

“Everyone kicked in and helped out,” Boknecht said.

The fair offered a lot of activities for everyone including the Queens Tea on Thursday.

“You could see the little girls were excited about that,” he said.

Fair Queen’s Tea

Royalty was present and abundant Thursday afternoon in the pavilion at the Jackson County Fairgrounds as girls in colorful frilly dresses and regal sashes congregated together for tea with the 2024 Jackson County Fair Queen Carly Kaiser and her court.

Girls of all ages had the opportunity to walk across the pavilion stage as they were introduced to the crowd, some showing a curtsey or twirl for extra flair.

Afterwards, the fair queen wearing her dark blue ballgown, tiara and sash signed autographs and smiled for pictures with many little princesses and future fair queens.

“This is my first time attending the tea as queen and it is not only a great experience for me, but for these little girls,” Kaiser said. “I love to see how excited they are to get dressed up and take pictures with us because they do look up to us as role models. I feel like I am working at Disney World.”

Kaiser said the week has been full of great memories with families and community members such as riding in on a horse during the rodeo, seeing families involved in 4-H and cherishing the moments with her close-knit community.

“It’s hard to not have a smile on my face this entire week,” she said. “It has been so much fun.”

Everleigh Garrett, 3, had her best dress on that resembled Belle’s from Beauty in the Beast, her favorite princess. Zoey O’Neal, 4, daughter of Makenzie Burbrink O’Neal, the 2007 Jackson County Fair Queen, said her favorite princess is Cinderella.

“Seeing the community come and work together has made this experience so fun,” Makenzie said. “It’s extra special when I get to pick out outfits and sashes with my daughter.”

Makenzie said the qualities of a great queen involve kindness and someone who is involved in their community. In her new role, Kaiser said there are many qualities that make a great fair queen.

“A great queen is someone who is outgoing, approachable and has that soft smile for everyone,” she said. “It’s someone you can look up to and these little girls will have memories from this they will never forget.”

4-H performing arts

A plethora of talent also was on display in the pavilion Thursday afternoon as 4-H members took to the stage to demonstrate their virtuosity in singing, dancing and playing instruments. Molly Marshall — health and human sciences extension educator — informed the audience that the 4-H’ers performances were “for fun,” as their acts were already judged at a county competition back in April.

Emma and Sophia Doriot, who were named champion group act in April, performed a jazz dance duet to “Juicy Wiggle” by Redfoo. Emma said Tammy Lewis of Tammy’s Dance Studio in Brownstown choreographed the dance. The girls then removed some choreography and added other moves.

Earlier in the showcase, Emma performed “The Parade of the Wooden Soldier” by Leon Jessel on the piano.

“I’ve been playing the piano for a long time — at least since second grade,” Emma said. “My mom played piano and she took lessons from Leah Schneider, so she got me to start taking lessons with Leah Schneider.”

Kadence Greenawalt performed an original piano piece titled “Rainstorm” on Thursday afternoon. She was named instrumental solo reserve champion in April. Evan Shoemaker, who was named instrumental solo champion and reserve grand champion in April, also performed a piano solo.

Other piano solo performers included Naomi McKinley, Theodore McKinley and Jenna Woods. Respectively, they performed a medley of “Medieval Piper” and “Fiesta España” by Nancy and Randall Faber, “He’s A Pirate” from “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” by Klaus Badelt, Geoffery Zanelli and Hans Zimmer, and “Downtown Abbey” by John Lunn. Also, Collin McKinley played a medley of “Women in Love” and “316” by Eddie Van Halen on the guitar.

Following the instrumental solos, three 4-H’ers sang vocal solos and two others performed a vocal duet. Ruby Blankenbeker – who was named vocal solo champion and grand champion in April – played the guitar and sang “Little Again” by The Secret Sisters, while Karlee Brewer sang “Jealous of the Angels” by Donna Taggart and Hope Couch sang “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin, composed by Alan Menken and written by Tim Rice. Isabella and Elizabeth Florido performed a vocal duet.

Antique machinery

Near the antique building and annex, members of the Jackson County Antique Machinery Association brought their machines, vehicles and other old pieces of metal together to show them off during the nightly antique machinery demonstration Wednesday.

One of about 100 of the members that were there, Eric Thompson of Brown County, had a few machines of his own to show off.

“I’m just crazy about old junk,” Thompson said.

One of the machines he brought was a braiding machine that came from a fishing line factory. Thompson said that there is only 15-20 of those around.

To get the braider running, he started up a Cummins engine, which was smaller than the one he initially had. After getting a head injury from the previous one, he went for something lighter and easier to start.

Larry Ozbun of Seymour started up a conversation with Thompson, his interest piqued by the various machines. Having worked with Cummins, he was no stranger to getting close with engines and other machines.

“Anything with a motor is interesting,” Ozbun said.

Pedal tractor pull

Gathering under the pavilion, family and friends prepared for the Pedal Tractor Pull on Wednesday afternoon. Kids that registered were separated into three groups based on weight — 0 to 50, 51 to 70 and 71 to 90 pounds.

The category with the most kids signed up was 0-50 pounds. Oliver Kinnett and Ryder Hurley, both from Seymour, pulled 13 pounds for their first go while Luther Darlage of Seymour was in the lead after pulling 15 pounds. Between the three of them, Kinnett came out on top, pulling 20 pounds. Darlage came in second place with a pull of 16.5 pounds and Hurley in third with 14.5 pounds pulled.

The next group of kids was smaller, but more intense. For the first round, nine of the participants pulled their tractor the entire distance, most with relative ease. The judges were surprised and a little concerned to see how long it would take to narrow them down to one winner.

Out of those nine, seven of them still pulled the entire weight the full distance. This was followed with not just one, but two more rounds to whittle down to first, second and third place.

In the third round, Lyla Schnitker of Cortland claimed third place with a pull of 24.4 pounds leaving a competition between Ryder Biehle of Hayden and Silas Bohall of Seymour, both going strong with three rounds of pulling the tractor to the end.

The fourth and final round was close, only half a pound of weight off. In second place was Biehle, pulling 22.5 pounds, and Bohall, the lightest in his weight class, climbed to first place, finishing his streak with a pull of 23 pounds.

The smallest and quickest group was the 71 to 90 pounds category, with a total of 10 kids tractor pulling. Each kid only had to pull one time, the pulls resulting in no ties. Owen Hackman of Seymour was the only participant in his category to pull the entire weight to the end, making him the group’s first place winner.

Charlotte Darlage of Seymour, which was the first contestant to pull, won a second-place spot with her initial pull of 18.5 pounds. In third, despite being the lightest in his weight category, was Quincy Romilus of Brownstown, taking home a third-place title after pulling 14 pounds.