TOULON - Representing Stark County in the upcoming Miss Illinois Fair county fair queen pageant, Brianna Endress is looking forward to the statewide competition as another stepping stone in what she personally describes as an “honored” privilege since being crowned the 2017 Miss Stark County Fair queen.
The Miss Illinois pageant is being held in conjunction with the 108th annual convention for the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fair,
The 19-year old will be the 26th Miss Stark County Fair queen representative to compete in the state fair pageant scheduled in Springfield later this month.
The four-day event, scheduled for January 18-2, will be held at the Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn Express Convention Center in Springfield.
Endress has decided to focus her one-minute speech reflecting on her late great grandfather Clarence R. Endress, also affectionately known as “Great-Grandpa Hank,” and his carried on tradition described as a hard work ethic.
In 1938, Great-Grandpa Hank set an unofficial world record in a corn husking contest held in Kewanee by hand picking 50 bushels of corn in a time frame of 80 minutes.
Miss Endress remarked that this past summer while she was riding in the annual Labor Day weekend Hog Day Parade in Kewanee, she came across Great-Grandpa Hank literally looking down over her along the parade route.
The late Endress is featured in one of Kewanee’s Walldog murals painted a few years on the local business locations.
“What a queen’s honor, looking back over my shoulder and seeing him!” said Endress.
Endress is a 2017 Stark County High School graduate and is currently attending Illinois Central College as a freshman, where she plans to obtain an Associate’s degree while pursuing a major in business administration. In the future she plans to transfer to Illinois State University in Bloomington.
Brianna is the daughter of Kevin and Marina Endress.
Endress will be one of several county fair queens statewide vying for the title as the new 2018 Miss Illinois County Fair queen, whom will be crowned at the conclusion of the four-day state pageant.
The newly crowned queen will reign over the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the DuQuoin State Fair scheduled for later next summer.
Following a personal interview on that Friday, Endress will be entered in the afternoon competition on Saturday, where she will compete individually in the semi-finals in the categories including swimsuit, evening gown, and stage speech.
The contestants will be divided into two groups, with competitions scheduled to be held in both the afternoon and evening.
Endress will be competing in the afternoon preliminary competition as contestant 28, and will compete individually modeling an evening gown and swimsuit, along with the delivery of her one minute speech before a panel of judges during the on-stage category.
As an annual tradition, funds for the queen’s state pageant wardrobe and trip were raised on the closing night of the Stark County 4-H and Junior Fair with a pie auction held in conjunction with the sale of the championship 4-H livestock.
Endress has participated in a number of area parades and attended pageants at neighboring county fairs. She has also assisted with volunteer efforts at several of the local and area town celebrations and has volunteered her assistance with community based fundraisers.
“I know state is a busy schedule but I am most looking forward to enjoying myself and forming friendships with all the other contestants,” Endress concluded.
