My Journey to the Throne

Have you ever wanted to be Royalty?! As a kid I always dreamed of being part of the royal family or being crowned royalty, but never really knew how I would ever become a king. With the lack of royal family members in southern Ohio my dream slowly faded. 

Growing up I was very active in 4-H where I showed market steers and market swine. During my time in 4-H I was heavily involved in the Jr. Fair Board as well as the leadership team of my 4-H club the Buckskin Ramblers. Over my 3 years of serving on the Jr. Fair Board I announced livestock shows, tagged animals and helped plan the annual King and Queen contest.

My first year on the board I watched all of my friends compete in the King and Queen contest and thought to myself 'I could never do that!' After my friends were crowned they began to travel around the state the next week spreading awareness of the great Ross County Jr. Fair. A year goes by and it is time for the next year's King and Queen contest applications to be filled out and returned to the office. A little voice in my head said 'this is your time to be a King.' 

The next week I decided to turn in my application to run for this year's King and Queen Contest. I went through an application and interview process prior to the on-stage event. The on-stage event consisted of a bio question and fishbowl question asking various Jr. Fair based questions. I remember drawing my question from the fishbowl which read “If crowned Jr. Fair King/Queen tonight, what do you wanna be remembered for?” I paused for a second and tackled the question.

After all 32 contestants answered their questions the night finally ended and the judges began to tally the points.. As the results are being announced my name wasn’t called and the only spot left was King. I remember feeling nauseous and hot as the MC says “The 2018 Ross County Fair King is…. Justin Hall!” My stomach dropped and my heart sank. I finally did it, I finally became royalty!

My childhood dream of being a King finally came true and over the next year I traveled around the state of Ohio promoting the Ross County Fair. It truly was an honor that I will never forget!