HANCOCK COUNTY – A Charlottesville country girl with a penchant for helping others has been crowned this year’s Hancock County 4-H queen.
Emily Grant hopes to use her crown to help shine a light on all the wonderful things about the Hancock County 4-H fair and the local farming community.
The 17-year-old won this year’s contest among a field of 11 contestants, who gathered for the pageant at Trinity Park Church in Greenfield on Saturday, June 17.
Bella Turner was crowned this year’s 4-H princess while Addison Buckley, Hailey Condry and Amelia Stone won spots on the queen’s court. Addison was also named Miss Congeniality, an honor voted on by pageant contestants.
The young women spent the previous week together preparing for the pageant, and attended a pageant workshop at NineStar Connect headquarters where they practiced mock interviews and shared fashion and makeup tips.
At the pageant they each modeled professional wear and formal wear in the church’s reception hall, where friends and family gathered to watch the festivities.
Emily had more than a dozen friends and family members in attendance, including two grandpas, two sisters, three nieces and her parents, Mark and Kim Grant.
Her mom said Emily had been having a blast in the week leading up to the pageant, which was the second Hancock County 4-H queen pageant she’d entered.
“She’s been excited and determined, and has really been taking it all in,” said her mom, who beamed with pride as the court members posed for pictures after the pageant ended Saturday.
“She’s always been such a neat kid, a real joy,” she said.
With a self-professed passion for agriculture, the teen launched a project called The Whole Farmer aimed at helping farmers manage their whole health – mental, physical, social and spiritual.
She films interviews with experts and posts them to The Whole Farmer’s Facebook page.
Emily is also involved with Grit & Grace, an organization which encourages young girls to “live out their convictions with excellence while honoring faith, family and freedom.”
She’s also a district officer for Future Farmers of America and aspires to become a state officer after graduating from Eastern Hancock High School next spring.
She plans to study agriculture business and marketing in college.
Emily has had a passion for agriculture from a young age, having shown sheep and cattle through 4-H over the past five years.
This year she’ll have a full schedule not only with her own 4-H events but with promoting the fair as 4-H queen, appearing at numerous contests and events along with the 4-H princess and court members.
Addison said she’s looking forward to mingling with the public and advocating for the fair that has meant so much to her as a kid.
“It’s going to be a great week,” said the teen, who turns 17 this week.
The queen and her court know they have big shoes to fill. During part of Sunday’s pageant, a slideshow highlighted the young women who were crowned Hancock County 4-H queen each year over the past 65 years, dating back to 1958.
Pageant emcee and coordinator Megan Addison gave special props to last year’s queen Claire Bishop, a recent Greenfield-Central High School graduate who was also crowned this year’s Indiana State Fair queen.
“Claire is the first-ever Hancock County 4-H queen to be crowned Indiana State Fair queen,” said the emcee. “She has shown so much passion for 4-H and the community during her 10 years in 4-H, and has shown so much kindness to everyone,” she said.
Claire heaped praise among this year’s field of 11 county queen contestants for the poise and professionalism they had shown over the past week leading up to the pageant.
She teared up a bit when addressing the young women, who were lined up on the stage in a rainbow of colorful sparkling gowns.
“When I look at you I see a group of women with the potential to change the world,” she said.
