Five fair queen candidates plan to compete during the 85th Annual Chelsea Community Fair on Aug. 25 for the coveted crown and scholarship funding.
Three of the contestants are students at Chelsea High School, one attends Dexter High School and one is a student at Grass Lake High School.
2022 Chelsea Community Fair Queen Avery Beeman met and began her duties of mentoring this year’s candidates when they recently got together for the traditional tea, which this year was held at the Chelsea Community Fairgrounds.
I was honored with the opportunity to meet them, take their pictures and find out a little more about them.
Libby Wacker, 16, is a senior at Chelsea High School. This is her first time running for fair queen.
When asked why she chose to run for fair queen, Wacker said since she was a little girl, she always looked up to the fair queens while she was at fair and decided to give the competition a try this year.
Wacker began showing chickens at fair about 10 years ago and for the fourth year, she will have a steer entered, Named Rip, in addition to hobby barn entries.
Wacker’s sponsor is Michelle Spiffy and Jiffy Cleaning and she plans to do archery for her talent.
Her parents are Leslie and Jared Wacker.
Lily Paddock, 17, is a senior at Chelsea High School.
This is her first time running for fair queen and she said she’s excited for the opportunity because she’s never participated in a pageant-type event before.
Paddock said she’s been going to fair since she was a little kid and likes watching the derby and figure 8 competitions.
Paddock has entered items in the hobby barn for several years in addition to volunteering to help park cars and sell elephant ears. This year she plans to enter crochet and knit items.
Her sponsor is Noggins Hair Shop and she plans to perform flag twirling for her talent.
Her parents are Elizabeth and Brad Paddock.
Maddie Krueger, 16, is a sophomore at Dexter High School. She decided to participate in the fair queen competition following in the footsteps of her older sister, Katie, who competed as well.
She says she is looking forward to hanging out with friends and visiting the baby animal barn during fair week.
Krueger plans to enter items in the hobby barn and perform a poem she wrote as her talent.
Her sponsor is Angie L. Finch, CPA and her parents are Holly and David Krueger.
Lily Jessee, 16, is a junior at Grass Lake High School. This is her first time running for fair queen as well.
She decided to run because it was something different that she’s never tried to do before. Fair falls on her birthday every year and she said she enjoys going and walking around to experience the charged-up energy at the venue.
She plans to enter items in the hobby barn and recite original poetry as her talent.
Her sponsor is Bright and Clean Laundry and her parents are Shanna and Matt Jessee.
Amber Konarski, 17, is a senior at Chelsea High School and ran for fair queen last year. She said she decided to run again because she liked the people and found it a fun experience.
This will be her second year attending fair after moving to Chelsea from Dearborn, and she will enter hobby barn items.
Her sponsor is Honeycomb Hill Farmhouse and she plans to read original short stories as her talent.
Her parents are Shannon and Patrick McDonald.
