CASSOPOLIS — In keeping with a longstanding Cass County Fair tradition, on Saturday night students from all across Cass and Berrien County participated in the Cass County Fair Royalty Contest.

The tradition of crowning a court was upheld with a new selection of royalty, including Dowagiac’s Sierra Carpenter, who was named the 2019 Cass County Fair queen in front of an audience of about 50 people, including close family and friends.

“My family is always my number one supporters,” Carpenter said, as she posed for photos and gave hugs to those who supported her from in the bleachers at the grandstand.

Carpenter is the daughter of Robert and Christina Carpenter and is a sophomore at Dowagiac Union High School. After Saturday’s crowning, she will begin her responsibilities as fair queen by welcoming fair goers to events and awarding youth during the various shows and competitions hosted throughout the week.

Carpenter decided to enter the contest to show her support for the Cass County community.

“I’m always willing to try new things and I show a lot at the Cass County fair,” Carpenter said.  “I always love being involved in my community so I thought why not add another thing.”

Carpenter has developed her own roots in the 4-H community as part of the M-40 Hustlers 4-H club. To add to her growing list of queen responsibilities, Carpenter will be showing two beef, two sheep, two pigs, two ducks and a rabbit at this year’s fair. Although she has only been showing for five years, Carpenter said she has experienced close knit friendships form. 

“My favorite part about the fair is coming together as a 4-H community,” Carpenter said. “We all see each other outside of the community, but when we are all here working our butts off, it’s amazing to be able to chill out with each other.”

During the question portion of the royalty contest, Carpenter was asked about one thing she would change or add to the fair.

“One thing I would definitely add to the fair would be everyone has to go into at least one barn to see how hard people work,” she said.

In addition to earning a coveted title and spot on the fair court, gift cards were awarded to the court during the coronation and awards ceremony. The fair princess and prince first runner-up both received a $100 gift card, while the prince and princess earned a $200 gift card. The 2019 fair queen runner-up received a $300 scholarship and Carpenter was awarded a $700 scholarship, in addition to her boutique of flowers, embroidered sash and crown.

As the fair trails on for the week, Carpenter is most looking forward to serving as a role model for younger girls in her position as fair queen. 

“I definitely want to be able to talk to the younger girls and tell them to keep driving for their dreams,” Carpenter said. “You’ll get where you want to go.”

Outside of her fair interests, Carpenter also competes in powerlifting and tied a state record of 650 pounds at the state powerlifting championship hosted earlier this year. She also plays softball for the Chieftains and set a single-season home run record in May. She also participates in volleyball and basketball at Dowagiac.

While competitors in the contest joined for a number of reasons, each of them expressed their love for all things Cass County Fair and their active participation in fair week.

“I’ve been coming for years with my grandma. I love watching pageants. I love being in pageants,” said Courtney Sobieski, the first runner-up for queen. “Something about being on this stage just makes me feel very comfortable. I knew Sierra was doing it and I was so excited to do it with people I knew.”

Sobieski is the daughter of Lisa Sobieski and a junior at Ross Beatty Junior and Senior High School in Cassopolis. She is a member of the Cowboy Up 4-H club and will be showing a goat and pig this year. She has been going to the fair since she was born, but this is her first year competing in the royalty contest.

“It was so much fun,” Sobieski said. “I recommend [the contest] to anybody.”

While the crowd only saw the competitors gracing the grandstand stage, backstage the participants enjoyed getting to know each other, while bonding over their love for the fair, Sobieski said.

“My favorite part was actually backstage, getting to dance and be silly with all the girls,” she said. “I enjoyed getting to know everybody. It was all just really fun.”

Other members of the court expressed their excitement for the responsibilities they will have during fair week. 

“I’m most excited to introduce myself to the crowd during the demo derby, the rodeo and everything else,” said Baylee Davis, the 2019 fair princess, who has been showing draft horses at the fair for the past four years.

While the royalty contest did not select a 2019 fair king or hold the category at all, a 2019 fair prince was still selected, with the honor going to Azariah Brenneman, the son of Sarah Brenneman. Brenneman is a fifth grader, member of the Cowboy Up 4-H club and competes in soccer, baseball, football, basketball, fishing and hunting.

“I wanted to have the responsibilities and I thought it was really fun,” he said. “I did a lot of practicing at home, in the car, whenever I could.”

Brenneman’s favorite part of the fair echoed many other contestants’ responses.

“My favorite part is always hanging out with friends and family,” he said.

Rounding out the 2019 Cass County Fair court are:

• Queen: Sierra Carpenter

• Princess: Baylee Davis

• Prince: Azariah Brenneman

• First Runner-up for queen: Courtney Sobieski

• First Runner-up for princess: Camryn Tyrakowski

• First Runner-up for prince: Jackson Bement