More than a ‘crown’: Washington woman logs thousands of miles as Pennsylvania Fair Queen
Reigning 2024 Pennsylvania Fair Queen Erica Teagarden, 20, of Claysville, has logged more than 3,000 miles so far this year, visiting fairs across the state and attending events.
That mileage includes a visit to the state Capitol in Harrisburg, where she recently led a group of more than 20 fair queens from Pennsylvania area for the first Fair Queen Advocacy Day to advocate for Pennsylvania fairs and agriculture.
Teagarden is a third year student at Penn State University studying agricultural and extension education. She acknowledges there are many commodity representatives in the state, and she sees the Fair Queen Advocacy Day as a way “to be able to go and advocate for ourselves and show we are a lot more than girls who wear crowns, sashes and dresses. We care about our fairs and we care about the legislation that affects our fairs and we want to voice our opinions,” said Teagarden.
“The whole point of the day was to expose these ladies to the power of speaking with legislators and advocating for fairs and promoting agriculture,” said Karen Dobson, Pennsylvania Fair Queen coordinator.
“It was a wonderful day and something most of the girls would never have had the opportunity to do if it wasn’t for our state queen program. This is the first time we’d been invited and we felt like we made a presence for how fairs are the showcase of agriculture,” Dobson said.
During the Sept. 30 event, the fair queens had individual meetings with their respective legislators, attended a House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee meeting and met the executive director of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
It was Teagarden’s second House committee meeting. In August, she attended a meeting of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and participated in a panel giving testimony before the committee on the “Impact of Fairs in Pennsylvania,” marking another first for the fair queen program.
State Sen. Camera Bartolotta met with fair queens from her district during the advocacy day. “I am honored to have the 2024 Pennsylvania State Fair Queen, Erica Teagarden, from my senatorial district, and to have four wonderful county and community fairs who have queen programs, in Jacktown, Greene, Washington and West Alexander,” she said.
“These fairs and their queen programs, as well as the leadership that operate them are creating such amazing opportunities for these young ladies. Advocating in Harrisburg adds to their understanding of just how important fairs are to Pennsylvania. Fairs are the backbone of our community – where agriculture, tourism, and education meet,” Bartollota said.
The Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs has 107 fairs in its association.
Teagarden was crowned Pennsylvania Fair Queen in January at the 111th annual convention of the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs and Pennsylvania Showmen’s Association in Hershey. She was one of 58 candidates evaluated by a panel of three judges for their written and speaking skills, knowledge of the fair and agricultural industries, and their poise and personal presentation in business attire.
The purpose of the Pennsylvania Fair Queen program is to promote the education of young women in Pennsylvania through a scholarship program and promote greater public understanding and awareness of agriculture and its importance to the state.
Teagarden served as the 2023 Washington County Fair Queen before competing for the state crown. As the winner, she received a scholarship in the amount of $2,500.
The daughter of Chad and Bobbie Jo Teagarden, the state fair queen said she’s been involved in fairs and agriculture from a young age, including the West Alexander Fair and later the Washington County Agricultural Fair, showing dairy cattle and market livestock.
She plans to pursue teaching as a high school agricultural educator. At Penn State, she’s involved in Ag Advocates, TeachAg Avengers, Penn State FFA (Future Farmers of America) Alumni and Supporters Chapter and the Beta Sisterhood. She served three years as a Pennsylvania Farm Show Junior Committee Member and will serve a fourth year during her time as the 2024 Pennsylvania Fair Queen.
During her year as fair queen, she visited 45 Pennsylvania fairs.
“I went all the way up to Susquehanna County, five-and-a-half hours from home, and of course, to the fair right down the road from me in Washington County.” She said she’s enjoyed being immersed in the culture of each different fair this year. “They are unique in their own way. It’s nice to learn the unique things other fairs have that they want to highlight and showcase,” Teagarden said.
She believes the importance of her role as the state fair queen is showing “that our youth care about the agricultural industry and they want to be involved.
“People are amazed that I would dedicate a year of my life to this. This is something I’ve always wanted to do and I find it an honor to be able to do it. I love being able to educate and advocate as well,” Teagarden said.