Royalty relish active roles in 4-H, annual County Fair

Photo by Natalie Baron: Royalty this year  at the Orleans County 4-H Fair are front row, left to right: Tommy Dresser, 10, Medina (Fair Prince Alternate); Caleb Fisher, 11, Albion (Fair Prince); and Sadie Pask, 11, Albion (Fair Princess). Back row: Immanuel Cornell, 15, Holley (Fair Duke Alternate); Jackson Fraiser, 12, Kent (Fair Duke); Sophia Albone, 14, Medina (Fair Duchess Alternate); Alyssa Murray, 15, Albion (Fair Duchess); Gary Donofrio, 16, Bergen (Fair King); Bailey Gonzalez, 17, Albion (Fair Queen Alternate); and Makenzie McGrath, 17, Medina (Fair Queen). Not pictured is Bailey Elliott, 11, Albion (Fair Princess Alternate). There is no King Alternate.

By Natalie Baron, Orleans Hub intern

KNOWLESVILLE—The royalty of the Orleans County Fair were crowned Saturday evening, concluding the Fair Awards ceremony.

Makenzie McGrath, 17, was named Fair Queen. She is grateful for a decade of experiences and learning in the 4-H program.

“I enjoyed it a lot!” she exclaimed. “I showed goats this year. I only did it a few times. It was fun! I participated in the Trolley Building and all sorts of activities.”

She expressed about being crowned Queen, “It was really surprising and exciting and I’m really grateful.”

Gary Donofrio, 16, Bergen was chosen as Fair King. He also won the grand master showman competition on Friday evening.

There are many reasons to become involved with the 4-H program. “4-H offers kids a variety of hands-on learning opportunities,” said Peggy Gabalski, one of the organizers for the event. “All the skills you’re learning, you’re gonna also be practicing and be able to apply. It also gives 4-Hers a variety of different ages to work with, peers who are the same age and peers who are younger. You learn working with adults and learning responsibility with a variety of tasks.”

“I think 4-H is still strong as a community youth organization,” said organizer Kayla Dengler, “and I think here in Orleans County, we continue to grow strong youth leaders and animal caretakers.”

The award announcers were the crowned king and queen from last year. They shared their journeys of how they became heavily involved in the county fair.

“I grew up doing horses,” explained Lea Donofrio of Bergen. “We got a bigger farm, expanded a bit. Now, I show swine. It was sort of a domino effect to do fair. We had a bunch of family friends who did it.”

Luke Gregoire shared, “I’m technically tied for youngest in my family. My siblings did 4-H. It was a natural process with animals. I started showing guinea pigs, maybe rabbits, then chickens.”