A queen is crowned
WAYNESBURG – Brittany Bonnema was crowned as this year’s Miss Greene County Fair queen during Sunday’s pageant, and Bonnema couldn’t be more excited about the honor.
Bonnema, 16, a rising junior at West Greene Middle-Senior High School, competed against two other girls for the crown.
“In my speech, I put my own two cents into why people should come to the Greene County Fair,” Bonnema said. “I explained all the events we have here and my personal favorite like the derby.”
The day of the competition went by in a blur. Bonnema, who competed against Lindsey Renee Gilbert and Lesley Tift, didn’t think she was going to win as she stood there waiting for the queen to be crowned.
“I was thinking: ‘I didn’t get it,'” Bonnema, a daughter of Jason Bonnema and Jamie Keller, said. “The other girls talked more about agriculture and were deeper involved, so I thought they would win.”
But as they called out third place and then runner-up, she immediately began crying.
“I just bawled my eyes out, I didn’t know what to do,” Bonnema said. “I don’t know what anyone’s reactions were. I couldn’t see anything through the tears. It was just crazy.”
The most nerve-racking part of the process for Bonnema was the interview.
She was hoping to show up at the fairgrounds and be the first to go through the process and be done with it as soon as possible. Instead, she was the last to be interviewed and, as she sat there waiting for the other two girls to finish, she drove herself crazy.
“I had time to build up my nerves,” Bonnema said.
After all of the anticipation, she left feeling very confident in her interview answers. She cried when she talked about her own personal role model, her father, whom she said has been there for her through everything.
As Bonnema starts her year as Miss Greene County fair queen, she is most looking forward to competing in the state competition and also showing younger kids that good, clean fun still does exist.
She also wants to be a role model for many young girls who aspire to be like her.
“I used to look at the fair queen and think how cool it would be to be a good role model,” Bonnema said.