By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

It was a night of poise, eloquence and, yes, even one or two mishaps.

The Miss America pageant had nothing on the girls competing in the 2013 Junior Fair Royalty Contest on Sunday. Seven girls competed to wear the queen’s crown and 11 others took the stage for the princess contest.

Competing for queen were Sarah Bell, Sara Gebhardt, Kendra Hudson, Jessica Lohr, Mikayla Reer, CeCelia Von Stein and Morgan Wurm. Aryn Copeland, Megan Gwirtz, Allison Lawson, Taylor Lutz, Kayleigh Seiber, Kendra Stahl, Tessa Starner, Hannah Underwood, Bonnie Welsh, Malynne Widman, and Tara Zinser competed in the princess contest.

Each queen contestant took the stage to introduce herself. They were later each asked two questions, ranging from what would you do if you survived a tornado but didn’t know where your loved ones were to who has influenced you most in your life.

Gebhardt eventually won judges Jeff and Jill Conley, of Wyandot County, over. She was crowned the 2013 Junior Fair Queen. The rest of her court will be filled by Queen Attendant Kendra Hudson, 2013 Princess Taylor Lutz, and Princess Attendant Tessa Starner. Due to there being no one running for Junior Fair King or Prince this year, 2012 King Kyle Harman and Prince Jordan Stockmaster returned as the 2013 King and Prince.

“I was very shocked and really, really excited at the same time,” Gebhardt said about hearing her name called. “I know that every single one of the girls who ran were very well-rounded and everyone had a great shot.

“I am very excited to represent our fair this year as the Crawford County Junior Fair Queen and I look forward to representing our fair, not only at Crawford County events but also as I travel across the state to other fairs and festivals,” Gebhardt said.

Von Stein may have won the crowd over when she first walked up to the mike. She stumbled over a part of her dress and stood for a moment on stage before making a decision. She laughingly stuffed the bustle of her skirt back by the chairs and continued on to the microphone. Though her voice shook a bit, Von Stein persevered.

“I thought, ‘Oh maybe I need to go back and take it off’ but then I thought, ‘you know what I really don’t care,’” Von Stein laughed. “Let me just step out of it here because I was just in the moment, like why not? Especially doing it here instead of going in the back.”

Von Stein may not have won the queen’s crown but her attitude during and after could have easily won her Miss Congeniality.

Check out more photos from the 2013 Crawford County Fair on our Photos page.