By DEBRA HAIGHT

 

BERRIEN SPRINGS — New royalty has been crowned for this year’s Berrien County Youth Fair. The young people chosen will be pulling double duty this week as they show their own exhibits as well as hand out ribbons and trophies to other area youth.

Crowned king and queen for the 2015 fair were Kirk Love of Sodus and Maria Pinkowski of Baroda. Their first runners up were Cory Sobralski of Benton Harbor and Shelby Pruett of Benton Harbor.

For the younger set, Sebastian Kirk of Galien was crowned the 2015 fair prince while Emilie Kurtz of Eau Claire was crowned the fair princess. They were chosen from a field of 10 girls and two boys.

Kirk, 20, of Sodus, graduated from Watervliet High School in 2013 and was Mr. Nice Guy to Mr. Blossomtime 2013. He is the son of Christine Huber. He is a certified firefighter. He has exhibited for four years at the fair, showing in the horticulture and crafts barns.

Maria, 20, of Baroda, graduated from Bridgman High School in 2012 and was the first runner-up to Miss Baroda 2012. She will be attending Western Michigan this fall to study sales and business marketing. She is the daughter of Ken and Marsha Pinkowski. She has exhibited at the fair for 15 years in the baking and floral departments.

Sebastian, 10, of Galien, attends F.C. Reed School in Bridgman. He is the son of Tom and Loretta Kirk. He has exhibited at the fair for six years, showing steer, feeder calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys and rabbits.

Emilie, 10, of Eau Claire, attends the Village Seventh-day Adventist School in Berrien Springs. She is the daughter of Martin and Sarah Kurtz. She has shown for five years in the crafts, baked goods, flowers and horticulture departments.

Other king and queen finalists were Justine Baerwald of Eau Claire, Meagan Diedrich of Berrien Center, Deven Blake of Buchanan and Benjamin Helwig of Bridgman.

Other queen contestants were Brittany Litka, Buchanan, Serna Sommer, Eau Claire, Francine Barchett, Benton Harbor, Kylie Burger, Buchanan, and Brie Daniel, Galien.

Other prince and princess contestants were Reise Bulat, Samantha Rydwelski, Emma Totzke, Laura Hall, Evie Clare, Kathleen Krieger, Jacey Corzine, Taylor Young, Jaylon Kriger and Olivia Janka.

Judges for both contests were Otilio Campos of Eau Claire, Jenny Loy of Benton Harbor and Rose Middleton of Dowagiac. Lindsay Zvonar of WYTC was the mistress of ceremonies for the prince and princess contest, while Tom Gear of Watervliet was the master of ceremonies for the king and queen contest.