Missouri State Fair queen never gave up hope
by Jessica England, posted Dec. 1, 2008
Whitney Wallace, the 2008 and 2009 Missouri State Fair Queen, knows what it takes to compete and win a pageant. She started her pageant path when she was crowned Miss Henry County Fair queen on July 12. After being crowned Miss Henry County, Wallace decided to participate in the Missouri State Fair Queen pageant, where she competed against 57 contestants. She was crowned on Aug. 8 at the Mathewson Exhibition Center in Sedalia.
During the pageant, Wallace didn’t win an individual competition, but she never gave up hope about being fair queen. For her talent at the pageant, she gave a speech about the importance of agriculture, traditions at the fair and building leadership from experiences of being involved at the fair.
As the Missouri State Fair queen, Wallace has had many responsibilities to deal with, such as being an ambassador for Missouri agriculture, getting fair goers excited about the fair and contests, talking to people throughout Missouri about the importance of the fair, and meeting new people.
Katie Jarboe, a friend of Wallace, was very pleased to see her do so well in the pageant.
“I was equally happy and proud for Whitney when she won Missouri State Fair Queen,” she said. “Everything she has done thus far in her life has been great preparation to make her very deserving of this honor.”
Whitney has grown up showing sheep at the Missouri State Fair, and her passion for agriculture is certainly consistent with the standards of the fair, Jarboe said.
Wallace has been going to the Missouri State Fair since she was 3 years old, helping her aunt wash sheep until now participating in and winning Leadline, a competition in which she wore an outfit she made of wool and led her sheep in the ring. Being fair queen has always been a dream of hers.
“I have a lot of respect for tradition,” Wallace said. “It’s great to have the chance to be the role model in the eyes of FFA, 4-Hers and other people in the state of Missouri.”
Wallace is a 21-year-old junior at MU studying agricultural journalism. After she graduates, she wants to spread her passion for agriculture to people everywhere.
“When I am passionate about something, I go at it full force,” Wallace said. “It’s easier to work hard now than to struggle trying to make up for it later.”
Wallace said that during the pageant she wore or had with her an article representing her grandparents from both sides of her family. She looks up to her parents and grandparents.
“They all made me who I am” she said. “My dad always told me to show some leadership and stand up for myself, and my mom has the best personality out of anyone I know.”
She wore her grandma’s ring and wore her grandpa’s tie pin during the pageant.
“My grandma was a guardian angel and very selfless, and my grandpa taught me to be passionate. My other grandma taught me to be graceful and confident, and my other grandpa taught me to be fair,” Wallace said. “I had different relationships with my grandparents, but they all taught me qualities that I use today.”
Lisa Wallace has been inspired by her 21-year-old daughter.
“Sometimes I wonder who she is, especially since she has been in college. She is amazing with her drive, her focus, her enthusiasm and ideas,” Lisa Wallace said. “Sometimes she just wears me out as she talks about one thing and then another, always something to do with agriculture.”
Wallace is very involved in school as well as being fair queen. She is the collegiate farm bureau president at MU, a CAFNR student ambassador, has participated in CAFNR Week steering committee, CAFNR student council, Agriculture Future of America and is in the Sigma Alpha sorority.
“She keeps us positive and focused. Her enthusiasm and positive attitude are infectious,” Lisa Wallace said. “She is goal-oriented and optimistic; that is easy to be around.”
