Brooke Beamesderfer named 2024 Lebanon Area Fair Queen

Brooke Beamesderfer, 18, of Annville, was named the 2024 Lebanon Area Fair Queen under the Carl Wenger Pavillion on Saturday.

Kylee Williams was named the alternate.

Coriana Bomgardner was named the 2024 Lebanon Area Fair Princess, a new contest to the fair added this year.

Maggie McAteer was also a contestant for Fair Queen and Saige Balmer and Ellie Eberly were contestants for Fair Princess.

Before the final decisions were made by the judges, contestants were walked from a wagon into the pavillion where they were introduced by Liz Voight, emcee of the contest, and provided a bit of information about themselves to the crowd.

The princess contestants were then brought up to deliver speeches, followed by the queen contestants. They were then brought up again to answer an impromptu question picked from a small box, delivered by the 2023 Lebanon Area Fair Queen Madison Copenhaver.

This is Beamesderfer's ninth year exhibiting at the fair but she has been coming to the fair since long before that. In addition to participating in several indoor exhibits, she's been showing goats for eight of those nine years. This year she added a new project with a hog as well.

She's also volunteered for a number of years and is working in the fair office this year.

Volunteering, Beamesderfer said, is part of what makes the fair so special, highlighting exactly the kind of values and work ethic found throughout the agricultural community.

"You would see none of this if it wasn't for all of our volunteers," she said. "We only have about three paid workers at the fair. I think whether we're speaking on behalf of it or experiencing it, our fair really holds a strong tradition of custom values."

Shortly after the crowning, Beamesderfer, Williams and Bomgardner were welcomed on to the main stage for the fair's opening ceremony.

The Fair Queen participates in the events throughout the week and during the rest of the year are busy promoting both the agriculture industry and fair at different events. At the time of the crowning, she wasn't sure where exactly she would be around the fair all week, as she still had to sit down with her coordinators and plan out her schedule.

"I'll be doing anything from helping volunteer, handing out ribbons to other livestock exhibitors when i'm not showing myself, anything I'm up for anything and everything. So, I'm excited for what's to come"

Beamesderfer wants people to come to the Lebanon Area Fair this year because it supports agriculture, a staple of life in the community, the state and the nation. Keeping events like the Lebanon Area Fair alive helps underline the importance of agriculture and supports those in the industry.

While it was difficult to choose just any one thing that people should come to the Lebanon Area Fair for, Beamesderfer recommended that if anything, come to stop in to the Eatery for a milkshake, her favorite being the coffee flavor, and a pork roll sandwich on a pretzel roll with cheese.

"You can't beat it," she said.

She added that the track events and animals are among some of her favorite things to see at the fair.

Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on X @djlarlham.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Brooke Beamesderfer named 2024 Lebanon Area Fair Queen