Four young ladies compete for 2026 Clinton County Fair Queen
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MACKEYVILLE -- Building a legacy of community service and agricultural awareness, the Clinton County Fair Queen program is making an impact right here. Our 2025 queen, Sarah Lavallee, has served well during her reign. Handing off her crown having served at 70 local events, she is proud to have represented the Clinton County Fair to local students and community members. Developing a repertoire from the recommendations of previous queens, in addition to Easter Egg Hunts, Tree Lightings and Festivals, she added in the Castanea Book Bingo and Flemington Church of Christ's Trunk or Treat. Wearing a crown is about saying, "I'll be there and what can I do to help?" Sarah especially loves it when the answer is something like, "Can you judge the pet costume contest?" She has modelled that being a queen is more than wearing a glitzy crown.
Sarah is preparing to hand off her crown on Aug. 1. The Clinton County Fair Queen Committee brings in three highly qualified judges from outside Clinton County to judge the competition. The judges make their selection based on personal interview, evening gown competition, speech presentation, written essay and impromptu question response.
This year's contestants are:
-- Emily Bechdel, daughter of Jason and Nichole Bechdel
Emily is a Penn State student, majoring in Animal Science and minoring in Poultry. She's interested in eventually working in poultry research to improve the poultry industry. She enjoys crocheting and hanging out with all her livestock.
-- Benelli Reynolds, daughter of Thomas Reynolds and Jennifer Ridler
Benelli is a CMHS student, currently serving as class president, who plans to attend Bloomsburg University for a Business degree. In her free time, she loves competition baton twirling.
-- Madalynn Bryant, daughter of Michelle and Tom Piper
Madalynn is a PA Cyber School student who is planning to become a registered nurse. She likes drawing, doing charity work and attending Big Woods Bible Church Youth Group.
-- Catherine Lavallee, daughter of Nicole and Robert Lavallee
Catherine is a Penn State student, working as a Physical Therapy Assistant and planning to gain her doctorate in the future. She spends her free time paddle boarding, crafting, hiking and swimming.
The Clinton County Fair Queen serves as the Fair's representative both in Clinton County and across our Commonwealth. We are proud to witness our queen growing professionally and developing superb public relations skills. Specifically, our program models community involvement, service and professionalism. Our contestants are not required to be members of 4-H or FFA. It's far more important that our contestants should demonstrate their knowledge of agriculture and our Fair. The young lady who is crowned will go on to represent our Fair at the PA Fair Queen competition in January 2026.
We cordially invite the public to join us at the Main Stage at the Clinton County Fairgrounds on Saturday, Aug. 1, at 3:30 p.m., to cheer on our contestants. In addition to witnessing these excellent young ladies vying for the crown, the contest also includes a short auction of various local items, benefitting this outstanding program. It's a great way to support the Clinton County Fair Queen program, ensuring its presence in our community for years to come.
The new 2026 queen will find herself busy as the fair continues through Saturday, Aug. 8. If you notice a sparkly crown, stop and snap a pic with our queen! She hits the ground running, visiting other fairs and diving right into her uniquely crafted reign of community events.