MANSFIELD, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—The Richland County Fair held its royalty contests Sunday evening, and a new King and Queen have been crowned.
Taking on the role of King is 17-year-old Westen Rehberg. Rehberg is an incoming Junior at Shelby High School and is part of the Roaming Rovers 4-H club and Shelby FFA. At the fair, he shows market ducks.
Rehberg says his brother was crowned fair king 10 years ago, which is why he decided to run.
“I kind of felt like I wanted to follow in his shoes, and my mom was like, “Hey, you should do this,” and I was like, “Okay, I’ll try it.”
He says that his advice for anyone who is thinking about running is to just do it.
“You don’t have many years to do this, so if you even have the glimmer of even trying, go do it before you put it off,” says Rehberg.
He would like to thank his parents, grandma, and brother for their help, as well as the people in his club, along with his club advisors and 4-H advisors.
The newly crowned queen is 16-year-old Kaley Bowman. Bowman is going to be a Junior at Madison High School and is attending North Central State College to study Radiology. She is a member of the Wild-n-Free 4-H club and shows llamas and alpacas at the fair.
Bowman says that she chose to run after always seeing the fair queens being crowned.
“It’s just really inspired me. That’s why I want to be a role model to the younger kids,” she said.
Bowman’s advice for anyone considering running for royalty is to be confident.
“You only live once, try everything you can do,” says Bowman.
She would like to thank her parents, her club, God, and everyone who has helped and supported her.