Rice County Fair Opening Night Makes History

On the 50th anniversary of the launching of Apollo 11 to the moon the Rice County fair in Faribault made some history tonight.  The first Rice County Fair Ambassadors were crowned and the final Fair Royalty took the stage to give their thank you speeches.

Named the first three Ambassadors in no particular order were Kelsie Demars, Ella Schmidt and Kaia Quimby.  The Friendship Award, voted on by the contestants, went to Sara Schaeffer.  Each woman told KDHL they were shocked when they heard their name called because all the ladies involved in the contest were awesome.

Quimby, 17, daughter of Steve and Lisa Quimby of Faribault will be a senior at Faribault High School this fall.  She plans to become an elementary teacher.  Kaia is involved with Infants Remembered in Silence, Big Brothers Big Sisters and other organizations.  In her free time she enjoys working with animals, dancing, camping and spending time at the lake.  Her favorite event at the fair is the talent show.  Kaia's sponsor is Studio of Stars in Faribault.

DeMars, 17, daughter of Kelly DeMars and Cassie Braun of Faribault will be a senior this fall at Faribault High School.  After graduation Kelsie hopes to attend either the University of Minnesota or North Dakota State University and study marketing and sales.  Kelsie is involved in multiple sports at Faribault High School including softball, basketball and trap shooting.  She has also been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters and DECA.  One of Kelsie's favorite memories is participating in the kid's pedal tractor pull and beating the boys for first place three years in a row.  Kelsie's sponsor is the Faribault Elks Lodge celebrating their 110th year.

Schmidt. 17, daughter of Stephen and Kendra Schmidt of Nerstrand will be a senior this fall at Northfield High School.  Following high school she plans to study chemistry and human sciences in college.  Ella is involved at school with Student Council, Mayor's Youth Council, Choir and DECA.  In her free time she enjoys reading, knitting, drawing, painting, traveling with her family and hanging out with friends.  On of her favorite memories of  the fair is the first time she got a hand squeezed lemonade from the giant lemon stand.  Ella's sponsor is Prairie Creek Acres.

Schaeffer, 18, daughter of Ron and Tammy Schaeffer of Faribault.  Sarah graduated last spring from Faribault High School and plans to attend Hamline University in St. Paul this fall to study anthropology.  Sarah has been very active in Girls Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Orchestra, just to name a few.  In her free time she enjoys reading, playing the violin, studying history, painting and photography.  One of her favorite things to do at the fair is see all the animals.  Sarah's sponsor is www.CBDwithTammy.com.

2019 Rice County Fair Queen Megan Vikla will be a junior this fall at St. Olaf College in Northfield where she is studying math and studio art.  Vikla told all in attendance and listening live on KDHL and KDHL.com she gained a lot from being involved in the program and thanked everyone who had any participation along the way.

2019 Rice County Fair 1st Attendant Zoe Nasif and 2nd Attendant Hannah Singh also thanked people involved in the program and told the crowd they too gained a lot from their participation.

Zoe attends the University of Wisconsin in River Falls and is studying elementary education.  The President of the 4H Happy Hounds enjoys showing her American Eskimo Dogs.

Hannah graduated last spring from Northfield High School and will be doing some work in Germany and India before starting college at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter.

I'm sure it was difficult for the three judges to decide the top three candidates among the seven who applied this year.  Some royalty from around the area took the stage before the program officially got underway and talked about their events.  For example the Rice County Dairy Princesses invited everyone to enjoy a malt during a fair at their food booth.