By GARTH SNOW

gsnow@kpcmedia.com

Madilyn Malcolm will see the Allen County Fairgrounds from a new perspective this year. The Garrett High School graduate and Purdue Fort Wayne elementary education major will wear the tiara of Miss Allen County.

Malcolm, 20, was awarded the honor from a field of 11 contestants at the fair queen pageant Sunday at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

Malcolm, a 10-year member of the Eel River 4-H Club, was honored as one of two 4-H Top Achievers in 2020. She earned the distinction of Showman of Showmen for exhibiting animals at the 2019 Allen County Fair. Twice she has earned the sash of 2nd runner-up and shared fair week as a member of the queen’s court.

This year she will lead the queen’s court in enjoying and celebrating fair events. She will be joined by Cara DeBolt, 1st runner-up; Emily Ann Caywood-Fralick, 2nd runner-up; Lauren Dickie, 3rd runner-up, People’s Choice winner and Miss Congeniality; and Morgan Schaefer, fourth runner-up.

Malcolm is the daughter of Sam and Jonell Malcolm of Garrett. She plans to become a teacher, perhaps at the kindergarten level. She also plans to earn credentials to become a school principal or superintendent.

In an interview, she said she plans to share her 4-H and farm experience to help students better understand farming.

She was still emotional several minutes after the announcement, after accepting her crown from 2022 Queen Bridget Bane assisted by 2021 Queen Carly Wilcox, and even after posing for photographs with contestants and family.

“I was super excited, overwhelmed with emotion,” she said. “I’m not your typical pageant girl, so being in the pageant and then winning it was overwhelming with excitement and joy.”

All the experiences — farm, 4-H and pageant — will enhance her teaching, she said.

Also competing were Katie Peters, Mallory Schaefer, Lauren Krinn, Gabrielle Royer, Ela Dean and Makayla Love.

In January, Malcolm will compete for the title of Miss Indiana State Fair 2024.

Each contestant received gifts. The queen received a $1,500 scholarship. Other members of the court received lesser scholarships. The pageant itself, the silent auction, and the Little Miss Allen County competition contribute to that fund.

Queen hopefuls competed in professional wear, evening wear, with an onstage question, by delivering an onstage speech and by engaging in afternoon interviews with judges Annie Romine (Bartholomew County), Julie Echard (Wabash County), and Lynnsey Bell (Cass County). Those interviews accounted for 50 points in the possible total of 120 points.

Miss Allen County 2022 Bridget Bane shared her fair royalty memories in a farewell address. The Purdue Fort Wayne junior told of gaining confidence after first competing as a 17-year-old and placing fourth. She thanked family, friends and Carroll High School’s Unified Athletics sports teams “for your endless support.” She urged her successor to “eat all the ice cream you can and make this fair Disney World for those around you.”

This marked the first year of the speech competition, which is part of the judging for Indiana State Fair Queen and is becoming more common at county fairs.

“Thank you for coming out and supporting these young women,” Fair Pageant Director Michelle Love said. “It takes a lot of guts to come out there and especially to do their speeches, and I thought they did such an amazing job for the first year of doing that.”

“We’re really, really excited about this year,” Love said, explaining that the county fair will be weeks earlier than its usual July dates. “I think you might know we’ve been sort of overlapping with the state fair the last couple years and it made the fair experience different. So for the next five years for sure we are going to be in June, so mark your calendars for June 20th to 25th right here at the Allen County Fairgrounds.”

“Actually everything is really coming together,” she said. “Everything that you’ve loved about the fair is going to be happening. We have the Kids Day, the demo derby, the truck pull, the hot-air balloons, the monster trucks are going to be back, but we are really excited because we did meet our fundraising goal and Tuesday night is going to kick off with a rodeo. People have been asking about this for a few years and it’s kind of hard to finance and (confirm) but we’re really excited. Because of our change in dates we have some options, and we’re really looking forward to it. So please come out. Mark your calendars.”

Love also introduced Amber Hoopengardner, the 2019-2020 fair queen newly appointed to the fair board and working with the 4-H program. “I have been dreaming about this for some time,” Hoopengardner said.

She commended the recently increased emphasis on 4-H Spark programs that bring 4-H to a wider audience. She urged anyone with questions about 4-H to seek out more information. “Reach out to any 4-H family members that you may or may not know,” she said. “They would love to either put you on the right direction or answer any of your questions.”

The Little Miss competition preview was not part of this year’s pageant which — like the fair itself — was weeks earlier than usual. Winners in three divisions will be crowned at 6 p.m. June 20 in the Home & Family Arts Building. Registration begins in early May.

Visit allencountyfairgroundsin.com for details and updates.