South Charleston: Local girls vie for fair crown

Beth Judy is one of two Clark County Fair queen candidates from the South Charleston area.

Beth Judy and Ashlee Smith of South Charleston are in pursuit of royal status. They are two of 14 contestants in the Clark County Fair queen contest.

The duties of contestants start before the fair gates open. All are required to do community service projects. This year, they helped out at the Relay For Life, passed out programs at the Springfield fireworks, and will be volunteers at the Springfield Arts Festival July 12-19.

Contest interviews will take place before the fair. The actual queen contest is set for 1 p.m. July 20 at the Expo Center on the fairgrounds. The fair runs July 18-25.

Judy, 17, will be a senior at Southeastern this fall. In her 10 years in 4-H, she has mainly shown steers and hogs. She also has shown a dog, competed in open class with rabbits, and taken sewing, early childhood, cooking and creative writing projects.

Judy is a member of the Bake-n-Baste and Kountry Kids 4-H clubs and a former member of Southeastern’s FFA chapter. She is this year’s Clark County pork queen.

“I want to give back to the fair because I’ve gotten so many experiences from it,” she said of her reason for running for fair queen.

Judy, the daughter of Barb and Mike Judy, lives on a farm outside of South Charleston. The family raises cattle and hogs and maintains 300 acres of farmland. In school, Judy has been a member of the band, played tennis, and served as a state officer for Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America.

Messenger photo by Kristy Zurbrick Ashlee Smith, a candidate for Clark County Fair queen, tends to her sheep.

Smith, 18, graduated from Southeastern High School this spring. In her 10 years in 4-H, she has shown sheep and chickens and taken sewing projects. She has served on the Clark County and Ohio 4-H fashion boards, through which she has volunteered at sewing camps to help beginners with their projects.

Smith is a member of the Guys & Dolls 4-H Club, for which she has served as treasurer since she was in fourth grade. She also is a member of Sheep Thrills 4-H Club. She reigned as Clark County Lamb Princess in 2004 and won the community service award as part of last year’s queen contest.

As for why she is competing in the queen contest, Smith said, "I’ve always wanted to be a role model for kids. I could use the queen role to reach out to kids, to help them with any problems they might have and get the interested in the fair."

Smith lives on a farm outside of South Charleston with her parents, Dr. Eric and Julia Smith. In school, she was a member of National Honor Society and SADD, played volleyball, and was a volleyball statistician, cheerleader and student aide for children with learning disabilities.

Clark County Fair Highlights

The Clark County Fair will be open July 18-25. The youth building will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Hours for the Arts & Crafts Building start at 11 a.m. The Mercantile Building, Annex and Midway will open daily at noon. Daily admission is $6 (children under 6 are admitted free); parking is $2.

The entertainment lineup is as follows: Satisfaction: A Rolling Stones Experience, 8 p.m. July 19; "The Lay of the Land" play, 7 p.m. July 20; karaoke night, 7-10 p.m. July 23; Colgate Country Showdown, 6 p.m. July 24; and country singer Gene Bowshier, 8 p.m. July 25.