CLEARFIELD – Chloe Neal, 17, of DuBois was crowned fair queen Sunday during the 33rd annual competition on the opening day of the 160th Clearfield County Fair.
She was crowned on the grandstand stage by Sarah Swope, who saw her reign as fair queen come to an end in the same fairgrounds it all started in a year ago.
“Honored,” Neal said moments after being crowned queen. “I’m honored to represent my fair and my community with this incredible group here to support me.
“I’m excited for fair week and to represent the agricultural community and county fairs.” Neal is most-looking forward to the livestock shows. “I love the animals.”
Currently she is a senior at the DuBois Area High School, where she is active in multiple sports and extracurricular activities. She’s also a volunteer firefighter and EMT.
In the future, Neal hopes to become an intrauterine and pediatric surgeon, and plans to attend John Hopkins University with a dual-major in biology and psychology.
Neal will be joined by First Runner-up Karter Bell of Clearfield, Second Runner-up, Breanna McCahan of Olanta and Third Runner-up Makenna Rummel of Mahaffey.
Neal and McCahan were first- and second- runners-up last year in Swope’s court. Bell was the second runner-up in the 2019 competition.
Rachel Carr Davidson, fair queen committee member, gave a brief overview of the fair queen competition before the results were given.
The county competition closely resembles the Pennsylvania State Fair Competition, at which Neal will represent the Clearfield County Fair.
According to Davidson, contestants had already completed a couple parts of the competition, including a personal essay on what the fair means to their community.
Before the on-stage competition Sunday afternoon, they had appeared for a personal interview with the panel of judges.
On-stage, contestants competed in a timed three- to five-minute speech on why people should come to their fair and an evening gown/personal introduction.
Due to having a small group of contestants this year, Davidson explained that each young woman would answer the same impromptu question.
The impromptu question was what piece of advice would you give to the young people listening. Neal encouraged them by saying: “stay true to yourself and goal-oriented.
“You will have people who will try to get you down and you will have things that get in your way. But if you remain goal-oriented, you will get there. Be resilient.”
The competition was attended by several reigning county fair queens but most notably Pennsylvania State Fair Queen Adison Neff representing the Elizabethtown Fair.
Sunday’s competition was also delayed approximately 45 minutes due to a strong thunderstorm passing through the area.
