By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS – Cass County Fair's 14th annual pageant missed the boat Saturday night with its "Buried Treasures" pirate theme.
The traditional "It's a family fair" slogan would have been sufficient with Beth Miller and her younger brother Kyle selected queen and king for the 157th fair opening today, and Dowagiac's Bundy twins finishing first and second for prince.
Beth, 18, who danced with Encore Dance Company in Dowagiac, will be a freshman at Grand Valley State University studying exercise science to become a physical therapist.
Kyle, 16, will be a junior at Niles High School. Their parents are Herb and Joyce Miller.
They admit to sibling rivalry.
"Now we have to be nice to each other all week," smiled Beth, a member of Country Trailblazers 4-H.
At the fair Beth shows steers and pigs, decorates cakes and cooks, but no sewing. "I tried that once."
Kyle also exhibits beef and swine and does demonstrations for still projects.
They compete head to head in market classes, but haven't had to test that rivalry yet in showmanship.
After high school, Kyle sees himself going to Michigan State University to study beef or swine production so he can "come home and take care of the family farm."
In her high school days, Beth belonged to National Honor Society, Key Club (Kiwanis) and DFP, which stands for Drug-Free Players, student athletes opposed to using drugs and alcohol. "I played soccer and was a cheerleader," she said.
Beth enjoys hanging out at the beef barn, playing cards and "dropping yarn spiders on people."
The king and queen have twin princes of their own waiting in the wings.
Their younger brothers will be in seventh grade.
Fair Prince is Blake Bundy, with twin brother B.J. as first runner-up over Kincheloe Elementary School fifth grader Ethan Wagner and Cassopolis fifth grader Austin Green.
How did judges select one twin over the other?
"I have no clue" they answered in unison.
Born a minute and a half apart, they'll turn 13 nine days after the fair and be Dowagiac Middle School seventh graders.
Blake is a percussionist in band, B.J. isn't.
Blake likes soccer, fishing, hunting and video games.
B.J. enjoys football, fishing, hunting and video games.
Their mom, Stephanie, isn't sure what tipped the decision, either, except that Blake was more passionate about entering the contest and B.J. went along with him.
"They're supportive of each other, so I don't think they care" which twin won, she added.
Fair Princess Jennifer Stickle, 12, is a seventh grader at Ross Beatty Junior-Senior High School in Cassopolis.
"It was my idea to go out," Jennifer said. "I saw it in the fair book and thought it looked really interesting. I show rabbits and I was supposed to be showing pigs, but they didn't make weight. I also do still exhibits – leathercraft, cake decorating, candlemaking. I have one sister."
Runner-up Emily Archer, 13, is an eighth grader at Ring Lardner in Niles.
Emily doesn't show at the fair except to help her brother.
She treasures her freedom because she has two cousins serving in Iraq. Her favorite part of the fair is eating. No wonder she listed belching as a hobby.
Also competing for Princess were Cassopolis seventh grader Ashley Ramsey, Cassopolis fifth grader Samantha Miller, DMS eighth grader Easton Preston (who won the award for lining up the most sponsors), fifth grader Nikita Mehaney and Kincheloe fifth grader Elizabeth Stockwell.
Queen runner-up Brianna Fitzsimmons will be a junior at Edwardsburg High School.
"I show pigs and a beef steer," Brianna said. She most treasures her large extended family. In fact, she went out mindful that her great-grandmother Zilpha Greenwood, who died this year, "really loved pageants."
After high school, "I think I want to go to Michigan State," Brianna said, "and pursue biology, maybe." She has an older brother, 19.
King runner-up Austin Francis, 19, will be a sophomore at Southwestern Michigan College. He likes golf, sailing and wakeboarding.
King candidates also included Anthony Colcord, who attends Lake Michigan College, and Agust Olafsson, a Cassopolis junior.
Queen candidates also included SMC freshman Stephanie Luke from Dowagiac, SMC freshman Shari McDonald, SMC freshman Chelsey Preston from Dowagiac, SMC student Kristin Asmus and Western Michigan University sophomore Calie Daniels from Dowagiac.
The "Hidden Treasures" pageant was organized by sisters Beth Klug (king and queen) and Nicole Linton (prince and princess), with their siblings Ashley and Adam Smego as mistress and master of ceremonies.