Rock County 4-H Fair 2012 royalty named
2012 Rock County 4-H Fair
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Last year's Rock County 4-H Queen, Sydney Beaty of Milton congratulates Lauren Metcalf of Milton, this year's Queen.
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Jon Jennings of Milton FFA and Lauren Metcalf of Milton this year's King and Queen of the Rock County 4-H Fair.
JANESVILLE — Milton made a strong showing for the second year in a row at the 2012 Rock County 4-H Fair Royalty coronation ceremony Tuesday night.
Lauren Metcalf of Milton 4-H and Jon Jennings of Milton FFA were crowned queen and king at the coronation ceremony Tuesday at the fairgrounds grandstand.
It's the second consecutive year the fair's queen has come from Milton 4-H.
Metcalf wore tears of happiness as she embraced her grandparents, Stewart and Marian Paul, after the ceremony.
"Ten years ago, I told Marian, I hope we live long enough to see Lauren get named queen," Stewart Paul said.
"4-H is big in my family," Metcalf said. "My mom was queen in 1971, and both of my grandparents were 4-H leaders, so it's been kind of a family affair."
Metcalf is a 13-year member of Milton 4-H and a sophomore at Texas A&M, where she is majoring in agriculture leadership and development. She said her time at the university aided her in the interview process, which involved questions about how she would promote agriculture.
"I'm part of agriculture advocacy group at Texas A&M, so I was able to talk about that (issue)," she said.
Jennings was calm but all smiles after the ceremony.
"It's going to be a lot of hard work," he said of the gig. "The fair's only a week long, but this is a year-long job."
Jennings said his time in 4-H has taught him some useful lessons.
"I attended the Washington Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., and it was life-changing for me," he said. "It helped me develop my communication skills and learn to become a role model. I also interacted with people from different cultures, people from all over the country that I would not have interacted with if I stayed in Milton."
Jul 25, 2012 at 9:35 p.m.
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I also agree that names should be listed. This is an honor that should be recognized.
Jul 25, 2012 at 8:34 p.m.
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I agree completely with the last three people. All the young people on the court of honor have worked equally as hard as the king and queen to get to this point in their 4-H or FFA experience. They certainly deserve praise and recognition also. We are very proud of all of them for their accomplishments.
Jul 25, 2012 at 8:20 p.m.
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Sure would be nice if the kids who were named to court of honor were mentioned. All those kids deserve to be mentioned,not just the King and Queen.
Jul 25, 2012 at 5:47 p.m.
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I agree completely with the first post, this happens year after year. I continue to be disappointed in the Gazette coverage of the fair. They take pictures and write a bare-bones story about the King and Queen each year...do they realize that there's a story that they're missing? These area kids are the cream of the crop and would make a great human interest story. Don't we all enjoy reading about something positive once in a while? And then, like 'huh' noted they nearly ignore, or in the case of this year, completely ignore the court of honor. Apparently they don't come from a 4-H background or they'd realize the years of hard work it takes to earn either title. Congratulations to Lauren, John, the court of honor and the representatives of each 4-H and FFA!
Jul 25, 2012 at 4:04 p.m.
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Would it be too much to ask to have the rest of the court listed? We go through this every year. Geez.
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