The Medina County Fair will continue one of its most cherished traditions by crowning a new queen and king during the annual Royal Court contest Monday night.
The main event kicks off at 7 p.m. in the pavilion and will cap off a trio of pageants that will showcase some of the county's more poised and community-minded youth.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. with the Junior Prince and Princess contest (ages 5-10), followed by the Prince and Princess contest (ages 11-15) at 6:30 p.m.
"I like those two events because they're a real nice crescendo to the main event," said Stuart Neal, Medina County Fair director, who has overseen the pageants for more than 20 years.
Then all eyes will turn to the main event.
Eleven girls from Medina County will compete for queen: Isabella Beamer, Medina High School; Leah Bengough, Buckeye High School; Berkeley Craddock, Cloverleaf High School; Taylor Domokos, Highland High School/MCCC; Pyper Earliwine, Rittman High School/Wayne County Schools Career Center; Rylee Howard, Black River High School; Chloe Falconer, Highland High School; Giuliana Izzo, Cloverleaf High School; Faith Kappele, Buckeye High School/MCCC; Dominique Levandoski, MCCC; and Ariana Murawski, Highland High School/MCCC.
Three boys will compete for king: Anthony Chung, Buckeye High School/MCCC; Drew Firebaugh, Cloverleaf High School; and Georgie Yatsko (Levandoski), homeschooled.
Three, believe it or not, is a much-improved turnout compared to the past few years.
"We can actually have a nice competition for king this year," Neal said. "This should help us get more boys."
Typically, Royal Court contestants are active members of their communities, and many are involved in 4-H, Junior Fair Board or Future Farmers of America, the latter of which has a strong contingent in this year's contest. By Monday, they will already have been interviewed multiple times in private.
The Monday program will mark the public portion of the contest, where they will introduce themselves before the audience and field onstage questions. One of Neal's favorite questions to ask as emcee is, "If you brought a friend from out of town to the fair, what would you show them first?"
"When our winners go to Columbus to represent us at the Ohio Fair Managers Convention, it is a big deal to these 4-H and FFA kids," Neal said. "They're the next generation of our fair, future fair directors."
This year's panel of judges includes Medina County's 2026 Veteran of the Year Ray Fain Jr. (Army, Vietnam), Habitat for Humanity head of construction Ruth Patton and Medina Hospital Vice President of Nursing Julie Simon.