Four young ladies vying for crown of 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen

July 17 coronation event kicks off 165th Allamakee County Fair

Four Allamakee County young ladies are vying for the title of 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen. Those four candidates for this year's crown include Madalyn Ellingson, Katelyn Leiran, Makayla Manning and Faith Palmer.

The crown of Allamakee County Fair Queen and all the honors and responsibilities that accompany it will be bestowed upon one of those four candidates Tuesday evening, July 17 during the Allamakee County Fair Queen Coronation being held at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon to kick off the 165th Allamakee County Fair.

The coronation event will begin at 7 p.m. with a local 4-H and FFA showcase of presentations that will include Share the Fun acts. Top entries from the 4-H Expressions Day held annually in Allamakee County in conjunction with the Fair will also take to the stage. This year's event will also feature an Allamakee County Royalty Showcase once again, including the introduction of local youth crowned as royal representatives of their various industries.

The crowning of the Allamakee County Fair Queen will follow that Showcase event. All candidates will be part of the Allamakee County Fair Royalty Team assisting with various events throughout the 2018 Allamakee County Fair. The 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen will also advance on to compete for the title of Iowa State Fair Queen in the August 11 pageant to be held in Des Moines during the 2018 Iowa State Fair.

Biographies of each of the four candidates seeking this year’s Allamakee County Fair Queen crown are included below:
 

Madalyn Ellingson

Madalyn Ellingson is the 16-year-old daughter of John and Bethany Ellingson of Waukon. She will be a junior at Waukon High School this fall and she has future plans to attend the University of Dubuque to major in Accounting and Business Management with a minor in Marketing.

Madalyn currently serves as vice president of her 4-H club, the River Valley Panthers. She has also previously served as the club’s secretary and treasurer. She is also treasurer of the Allamakee County 4-H County Council and is a member of the 4-H Citizenship Club.

A member of the Presbyterian Church, Madalyn has been involved with the local Fields of Faith program. She has also worked her way to a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a member of the Gforce Club Volleyball Team.

Madalyn is a very involved high school student-athlete, currently ranked first in her high school class with a 4.0 grade point average (GPA). She has also been an Academic Letter winner in each of her four high school semesters so far, being selected as a Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society member as well.

She has been a varsity letterwinner in volleyball, track and field, softball and concert band, where she was honored as the highest point scoring female freshman in the band. She is also active in the Waukon High School Future Business Leader of America (FBLA) chapter, having the honor of singing the National Anthem at the FBLA State Leadership Conference and placing first in both the Accounting 1 and Battle of the Chapters competitions.

Madalyn’s involvement in the Waukon High School Choir has resulted in her highest achievements. Being a Concert Choir letter winner, she was honored as scoring the highest amount of points in the choir as a female in both her freshman and sophomore years. She is a member of the Women’s Chamber Choir and Mixed Chamber Choir and has already received recognition as an Iowa All-State Singer and an Iowa All-State National Anthem Singer.
 

Katelyn Leiran

Eighteen-year-old Katelyn Leiran is the daughter of Steve and Nancy Leiran of Waterville. She graduated from Waukon High School this past May with the Class of 2018 and also completed an Associate of Arts degree from Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) this past May as well. She has plans to attend Luther College in Decorah this fall to major in Biology (Pre-med).

During high school, Katelyn was involved in Choir, Chamber Choir, musicals, plays and speech contests. She also recently served as Co-President of Student Council along with various other student leadership organizations such as Student Leadership Committee and District Advisory Committee.

Outside of school, Katelyn has also been involved in 4-H as a member of the Clover Chasers 4-H Club along with having served three years on the Allamakee County 4-H County Council. She is also a member of Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church and participates in her church’s Lutheran Youth Organization, where she served as treasurer for six years. Last summer, she was also selected to represent the Harpers Ferry American Legion Auxiliary at Iowa Girls State.

In honor of her academic achievements, Katelyn has been recognized as a National Merit Finalist and class valedictorian. She has achieved the “A” honor roll every semester and has been inducted into National Honor Society. She was also recognized as KWWL Best of Class, recipient of the Governor’s Scholar Recognition and was named Academic All-State by the Des Moines Register as one of the state’s top 10 seniors.
 

Makayla Manning

Makayla Manning, 18, is the daughter of Glenn and Jodie Manning of Waukon. She is a 2018 graduate of Waukon High School and plans to attend Iowa State University in Ames this fall to major in Elementary Education and minor in Learning Technologies.

While in high school, Makayla has been involved in the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Food and Fitness Initiative (FFI), West Ridge Riders 4-H Club, Allamakee County 4-H County Council, Youth Alive, National Honor Society, Allamakee Scholarship Fund and the Allamakee Wellness Team. She has also worked at a dairy parlor and at the after school program at Waukon Middle School.

While at home, Makayla has spent a lot of time working on her newest addition to the farm, honey bees. She also has volunteered at the after school program at West Elementary in Waukon, helped clients at T.A.S.C., played games and brought animals to the residents at Good Samaritan Nursing Home and helped lead Clover Kids meetings, being able to host one of those meetings. She has also been able to volunteer through her involvement in 4-H, County Council, FFA, FBLA, Youth Alive and FFI, as well as at a Furniture Donations Program in Florida while on a church trip.

In FFA, Makayla is part of the Farm Business Management team that received first place at both the District and State conventions this spring and will be representing Iowa at the National FFA Convention this fall. She has also had many Allamakee County Fair projects advance to the Iowa State Fair over the years.
 

Faith Palmer

Faith Palmer is 16 years old and the daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon. She will be a junior at Waukon High School this fall and has future plans to attend Iowa State University in Ames to major in Dairy Science and Business in hopes of pursuing a career in agriculture. She also wants to continue to have an active role in her family’s dairy farm and remain involved in 4-H and FFA as an adult.

Faith currently serves as vice president of the Little Switzerland FFA chapter and has competed in many different FFA contests. She is also a seven-year member of the Ludlow Future Farmers 4-H Club, currently also serving as club vice president as well as on the Allamakee County 4-H County Council and participating in 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl. Faith loves to show dairy cattle and is expanding her show experience this year to beef cattle as well at the Allamakee County Fair and the Big 4 Fair. She also completes exhibits for the 4-H building, and as a member of the 4-H Citizenship Club she traveled to Washington, D.C. last spring. She has also been on the Allamakee County Dairy Judging team for seven years, competing at the Iowa State Fair.

In addition to her 4-H and FFA activities, Faith is also involved with the Zion United Church of Christ (UCC) youth group and also serves as a substitute piano player for the church, when needed. Additional school activities also include basketball, Choir and the fall musical. She is also a member of the Iowa Jr. Holstein Association and has participated in Dairy Jeopardy and Quiz Bowl at the national level the last two years.

Faith also finds time to be very active on her family’s dairy farm. She milks most mornings and nights and also helps with field work and other various chores.

Through all of her involvement, Faith has already compiled a number of awards and honors. In FFA, she has received the Greenhand degree, Chapter degree, Dairy Proficiency Award, Star Award and academic achievement awards. Her 4-H honors include the Citizenship Award, the Agriculture Achievement Award and record keeping awards. Her honors carry over to the classroom as well, where she has been selected to the “A” Honor Roll throughout her middle school and high school years. She also received the “Most Improved” Award in Choir this year.