Miss Iroquois County Fair Queen Samantha Hasselbring and Miss Ford County Fair Queen Kelsey Vaughn will represent the area this weekend. Both young ladies are competing for the title of Miss Illinois County Fair Queen.

The 59th Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Pageant will be held Sunday 1/21 at the Crown Plaza Convention Center in Springfield. Seventy-two county fair queens from various counties across the state will compete for cash prizes and the honor of hosting the Illinois State Fair and DuQuoin State Fair.

Fifteen finalists will be selected to compete for the title of ‘Miss Illinois County Fair 2018’ at a banquet Sunday evening. The title of Miss Illinois County Fair is currently held by Claudia VanOpdorp. Contestants are judged on personal interview, stage presence, beauty of face and physical condition, and speech and communication skills.

Representing Iroquois County is Samantha Hasselbring of Watseka. She is the daughter of Troy and Lynn Hasselbring. Samantha is a 2016 graduate of Cissna Park High School and is currently attending Milliken University studying Elementary Education.

Kelsey Vaughn represents Ford County. She is the 18-year-old daughter of Rusty and Kelli Vaughn of Paxton. She is a 2017 graduate of Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. She is a freshman at Illinois State University, where she is pursuing a double major in agribusiness and agricultural communications.

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