3 Already!

Oh boy have I been busy. I didn't want to leave any fair out so I wanted to share that last Wednesday night I went to the Worth County Fair. This fair was the first in the state to be held this year. The Worth County Fair is in Northwood, Iowa. For anyone who doesn't know where that is it is just straight north on 35 about 3 and half hours from Des Moines. My parents accompanied me; I am really looking forward to spending a lot of bonding time with Mom and Dad, as they will travel with me this summer. Mom will do most of the chaperoning but Dad will tag along when he can. I won't be surprised if Mom kicks me out of the car sometimes to make me walk. :) I was able to tour around the Worth County Fairgrounds and eat dinner with the queen candidates. After dinner the crowning took place where I spoke along with the reigning 2010 Worth County Fair Queen. It was a pleasure to crown the 2011 Worth County Fair Queen, as she was a great gal and will fulfill her duties very well.
This week my mother and I took off and headed north again along with Nancy the navigator. :) Tuesday I was asked to make an appearance at the Mighty Howard County Fair. It is held in Cresco, Iowa which is right on highway 9.This fair will probably rank as one of my favorites this summer. I fell in love with their fairgrounds, as I was very impressed with how well everything was set up. It was great seeing Tom and Sue Barnes; Tom is the president of the Iowa Fairs Association. Both of them are great people. It was also a pleasure to crown their fair queen as well; she is a wonderful girl and will succeed in her reign. I spoke again along with the 2010 Mighty Howard County Fair Queen. I ended the night being able to relax and chat with the Howard County fair board members, this was really interesting as I met new people and discussed different issues. One thing I wanted to share from this fair was that I was looking at all the 4-H exhibits that many 4-Hers worked hard on to present at the fair. One caught my eye that was selected to advance to the State Fair. This was a poster board made from a girl who had a learning disability and it explained different things about the disability. On the bottom of the poster I read a quote from the girl, which stated, "there is no cure for a learning disability, and you don't always out grow it, but it's never to late to get help. I learn differently from other people and that's ok, I focus on meeting my goals." This was very well put, it made me appreciate what I have in life and that other's should feel the same way no matter if they have a disability or not. We are all human and God made us all different and unique for a reason. I was very proud of this girl, as she does not let her disability stand in her way of succeeding in life.
My mother and I bunked up in Cresco that night as we were headed to our next destination in the morning, which was Marion, Iowa. Marion is located in East central Iowa by highway 151 and 13. Of course I found a place to workout that morning, I always have to spend time with my boyfriend at least once a day (my basketball). The 2011 Linn County Fair Queen competition was held in Marion. I was asked to be a judge for this contest. This was my first time judging a queen contest and I absolutely loved it. To know I had an impact on who was selected to represent their county and compete at the Iowa State Fair Queen Competition is amazing. It was great chatting with all the candidates and sharing a little bit of my story with them and the ladies that were also there at the competition. The two other judges and myself choose a very bright young lady, who I know will represent her county very well and succeed at the Iowa State Fair Queen Competition. I was so glad to be apart of the judging process; the queen will be crowned on the first day of the Linn County Fair, which is July 6th.
Nancy led my mother and I through every possible gravel road and highway she could but we finally made it to 80 that brought us home safely. The most comical times will come from my mother this summer getting mad at Nancy, I just laugh as I can not help us getting lost we just have to make the best out of being terrible at directions. These first three appearances I have made have been a blast and I am excited for many more. I apologize that this is so long as I am going to try to get caught up; from now on I will only blog about one event. Hope all is well with everyone.

God Bless,
2010 Iowa State Fair Queen
Lacy Stevenson