[Announcer] Funding for Fair 2026 is provided by: Pella Windows and Doors help bring your home to life.

For more than 100 years, Pella has been dedicated to building a brighter future in Iowa communities.

Pella Corporation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS.

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Iowa's pig farmers do too.

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It fuels our cars, feeds our livestock and is in over 4,000 products on your grocery store shelves.

Iowa doesn't just grow corn.

Corn grows Iowa.

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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 2026 Iowa State Fair Queen Coronation.

Thanks for being patient with us.

We're dealing with some weather that is on the way, unfortunately.

So we're going to kind of shift things up a little bit and try to move a little faster through things and get these young ladies out on the stage as quickly as we can.

So bear with us as we kind of move on the fly here with the program tonight.

But thank you for being here with us.

We've.. evening ahead for you.

My name is Travis Graven.

I'm with Iowa PBS.

And my name is Hailey Van Maanen.

We are s.. all of you to be here tonight as we introduce our 103 County Fair Queens.

There are 75 members of 4-H, 81 members of FFA and a combined GPA of 3.8.

And these are stellar young ladies tonight.

So without further ado.

[Travis] All right, ladies and gentlemen, your 2026 Iowa State Fair Queen contestants.

[Hailey] From Adair County, Kacie Ford.

From Adams County, Justyce Bradley.

From Allamakee County, Reegan Benzing.

From Appanoose County, Kimmie Johnson.

From Audubon County, Olivia Carter.

From Benton County, Jillian Hanson.

From Black Hawk County, Evelyn Schmitz.

From Boone County, Clara Fulton.

From Bremer County, Addison Carlson.

From Buchanan County, Emily Cook.

From Buena Vista County, Hannah Brown.

From Butler County, Colby Wix.

From the Calhoun County Expo, Peyton Davis.

From Carroll County, Meredith Sturm.

From Cass County, Clara Kennedy.

From Cedar County, Madelyn Walshire.

From Cerro Gordo County, from the North Iowa Fair, Ava Kappmeyer.

From Cherokee County, Danika Ducommun.

From Chickasaw County, Brenna Throndson.

From Clark County, Victoria Rosales.

From Clayton County, Kara Knipper.

From Clay County, Maggie Moser.

From Clinton County, Taylor Houser.

From Crawford County, Brigid Bonner.

From Dallas County, Eliza Schmidt.

From Davis County, Kallee Nebel.

From Decatur County, Leighanna Bundt.

From Delaware County, Kate Ries.

From Des Moines County, Lily Nalley.

From Dickinson County, Brianna Swenson .

From Dubuque County, Kendra Calonder.

From Emmet County, Taylor Larsen.

From Fayette County, Maggie Jones.

From Floyd County, Madison Vance.

From Franklin County, Carli Lyon.

From Fremont County, Nora Martin.

From the Great Jones County Fair, Emma Dietsch.

From Greene County, Kaliyah Minnhan.

From Grundy County, Josey Syhlman.

From Guthrie County, Brooklyn Haines.

From Hamilton County, Sophia Nibe.

From Hancock County, Marissa Muff.

From Hardin County, Alyssa Vierkandt.

From Harrison County, Maci Bertelsen.

From Henry County, Zenlynn Lee.

From the Mighty Howard County Fair, Mally Linkenmeyer.

From Humboldt County, Adelyn Vinsand.

From Ida County, Allison Moore.

From Iowa County, Hayden Wade.

[Travis] From Jackson County, Abigail Schmidt.

From Jasper County, Seriah Nolin.

From the Greater Jefferson County Fair, Hailey Pedrick.

From Johnson County, Haiden Gauley.

From the Keokuk County Expo, Adalynne Tremmel.

Representing the Keokuk County Fair, Gracen MacCready .

From Kossuth County, Charli Dodds.

From Lee County, Allison Gruntmeir.

From Linn County, Allison Arnold.

From Louisa County, Emma Salazar.

From Lucas County, Emersen Gunzenhauser.

From Lyon County, Lucy Doorneweerd.

From Madison County, Denali Coffman.

From Mahaska County, Sydney Bruxvoort.

From Marion County, Emerson Hiemstra.

From Marshall County, Hannah Frahm.

From Mills County, Hannah Swinford.

From Mitchell County, Lydia Koch.

From Monona County, Claire Smallwood.

From Monroe County, Maggie McAninch.

From Montgomery County, Audrina Johnson.

From Muscatine County, Abigail Schell.

Representing the National Cattle Congress, Cheyenne White.

From O'Brien County, Abby Woodall.

From Osceola County, Mariah Dake.

From Page County, Jillian Dammann.

From Palo Alto County, Trista Guinn.

From Plymouth County, Isabelle Plueger.

From Pocahontas County, Delaney Janssen.

From Polk County, Rylie Campbell.

From Pottawattamie County, Evelyn Scott.

From Poweshiek County, Leah Urfer.

From Ringgold County, Kelbey Greenland.

From Sac County, Skylar Smith.

From Scott County, representing the Mississippi Valley Fair, Ellie Weyeneth.

From Shelby County, Carly Torneten.

From Sioux County, Marnie Croatt.

From Story County, Emilee Kelly.

From Tama County, Belle Werner.

From Taylor County, LaraLynn England.

From Union County, Kadley Bailey.

From Van Buren County, Molly Johnson.

Representing the Wapello County Expo, Alexandra Perry.

Representing the Wapello County Fair, Isabella Sherwood.

From Warren County, Anita Scholten.

From Washington County, Adelyn Huston.

From Wayne County, Brooke Hitt.

From Webster County, Aianna Kirby.

Representing West Pottawattamie County, Joanna Cook.

From Winnebago County, Aubrey Olson.

From Winneshiek County, Jadrienne Langreck.

From Woodbury County, Ashleyn Weber.

From Worth County, Layla Scarlett.

From Wright County, Rylee Pals .

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2026 County Fair Queens.

[Hailey] We will now present the Iowa State Fair Quee.. Award in honor of Julie Wolterman, who was the 1993 Iowa State Fair Queen, and we honor her today by presenting an award to a county fair queen who has an entrepreneurial spirit and is a pioneer and a trailblazer in her community.

I do believe we have Judy here today, who is Julie's mom, to present the award, and she is being escorted by Bill Riley Jr., host of Bill Riley talent show and a longtime host of the Queen Coronation.

And the Iowa State Fair Queen Alumni Award in honor of Julie Wolterman goes to Lee County, Allison Gruntmeir.

[Travis] All right, we want to take just a quick moment here to recogn.. people over here on this side of the stage, without which none of this would all be possible.

Our Iowa State Fair Board sitting over here, we won't introduce everybody individually, but give us a wave.

I see the governor over there as well.

Governor Kim Reynolds.

A lot of time and hard work goes into pulling all of this together.

Fair CEO and Manager Jeremy Parsons standing back there.

Jeremy, do you want to give any words?

All right.

We will move on to the awards then.

[Hailey] And we will also recognize Iowa State Fair Queen Coordinator Amanda Cook and State Fair Queen chaperones in the back as well for the work that they've done to put on the queen contest for these ladies.

And before we do continue, I have a very special guest who will come out to give a few words.

Her homeland here in the Iowa State Fair.

Everyone give it up for Riah Schrage.

Your 2025 Iowa State Fair Queen.

[Riah Schrage] I figured that was going to happen.

So it's okay.

Nothing gets you in the fair spirit quite like the crowning of the Iowa State Fair Queen.

And trust me, I am just as excited as you guys to hear who has won.

So I promise I'll keep it short and sweet.

But I do want to share just a little bit about my year.

And I do have some people I want to make sure that I thank.

After an amazing week at the Iowa State Fair last year, I traveled about 13,000 miles around the state of Iowa, visiting 74 different county fairs and singing the national anthem about 30 times.

I judged about 13.

Yes, thank you.

I judged about 13 queen contests, led two service projects, did lots of parades, speeches and interviews, and did so many of your county fair events that I would be up here all night if I listed them all.

But my goal for this year was simple, say yes to everything and rest when it's over.

So tomorrow I have a very, very, very long nap waiting for me after traveling all over the state of Iowa this year.

And everything that I did, I can truly say that my favorite part has been the people.

And I know it sounds cliche, but I really do mean it.

Everywhere I went, I was met with welcoming, amazing, kind, funny, generous people who welcomed me to their fair and made me feel right at home.

I do have a few people I want to thank in specific before I give the crown away today.

So to my family, thank you so much for supporting me.

Thank you to my mom for driving me almost every day this year.

Thank you to my dad for being so supportive.

Even when I came home with yet another dress.

Thank you to my younger siblings for being so supportive.

Who I told myself I was gonna cry, but to Cal, thank you for being my queen, mom.

Thank you for answering every text and every call and always knowing how to make me laugh and feel better.

To the Iowa State Fair Board, I would be remiss if I never said thank you to you.

Thank you for loving me like your family and you will have become my big ole fair family, and you will always hold a special place in my heart.

To Jared, I do have to give an apology to Jared.

I have been pranking him ruthlessly this week, TP-ing his room.

We stacked chairs in front of his door, so I am sorry Jared.

We're good, we're good.

Awesome, awesome.

To the 103 amazing contestants behind me.

You all are so amazing and so, so deserving of this role.

I have had the absolute honor of getting to know all of you throughout this year, and whether it was at your county fairs or at Queen's Week.

You all are so great and thank you for letting me be a part of your week.

To the next Iowa State Fair Queen, I wish you the best year ever.

I hope you make so many fun memories and just know that all of us vintage queens are going to be cheering you on so hard.

It is hard to believe that the little girl who once dreamed of wearing this crown and representing this amazing fair is getting ready to pass it on and close this chapter of a dream come true.

I loved every single second of this year, and it has been the greatest honor to serve as your 2025 Iowa State Fair Queen.

[Hailey] Queen Riah Schrage, ladies and gentlemen.

[Travis] All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're about to the awards again.

Thank you for being patient with us.

This is an extremely condensed program.

All of these ladies up here are very accomplished, so many of them are involved in 4-H, FFA, sports at their school.

They are holding leadership positions in clubs and organizations.

We would have told you a little bit all about each one of them if we had a little bit more time, but we're trying to beat this weather.

So thank you for understanding.

Let's move on to the awards.

Now we begin with Personality Plus.

Personality Plus goes to Warren County, Anita Scholten.

[Hailey] We will now award Outstanding Leadership.

From Crawford County, Brigid Bonner.

[Travis] And I failed to mention that each of these l.. ladies are receiving a variety of awards.

Scholarship money, a plaque, a Visa gift card, and a flower bouquet from Boesen the Florist.

So you can look at your programs and see all of the exact prizes that each of them is receiving tonight.

Now, third runner up.

Dallas County, Eliza Schmidt.

[Hailey] And second runner up goes to Benton County, Jillian Hanson.

[Travis] Your first runner up goes to Page County, Jillian Dammann.

[Hailey] And now I present to you, your 2026 Iowa State Fair Queen is from Tama County, Belle Werner.

Give it up for Belle Werner, ladies and gentlemen, from Tama County.

[Travis] Congratulations once again to Belle Werner of Tama County.

Your 2026 Iowa State Fair Queen.

Thank you, everybody for being here at the Anne and Bill Riley Stage.

Get home safely.

Stay dry if possible.

Thank you to those of you tuning in at home on Iowa PBS.

Have fun at the 2026 Iowa State Fair.

Good night.

[Announcer] Funding for Fair 2026 is provided by: Pella Windows and Doors help bring your home to life.

For more than 100 years, Pella has been dedicated to building a brighter future in Iowa communities.

Pella Corporation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS.

With our Iowa roots and Midwestern values, Farmers Mutual Hail is committed to offering innovative farm insurance for America's farmers, just as we have for six generations.

Farmers Mutual Hail.

America's crop insurance company.

As Iowans, we all want clean air, land and water.

Iowa's pig farmers do too.

You can learn more about the Iowa Pork Producers Association at IowaPork.org/wecare.

Since 1929, Wellabe has offered insurance solutions to help people protect their health and financial well-being.

Wellabe strives to empower people to be well, well prepared and well protected.

Learn more at wellabe.com.

Welcome to Iowa, where you can explore parks, wander countless trails and experience history, culture and art.

Travel Iowa.

At Iowa Corn we know that corn is more than just a crop.

It fuels our cars, feeds our livestock and is in over 4,000 products on your grocery store shelves.

Iowa doesn't just grow corn.

Corn grows Iowa.

Learn more at IowaCorn.org.

Banking in Iowa goes beyond transactions.

Banks work to help people and small businesses succeed, and Iowa Banks are committed to building confident banking relationships.

Iowa Banks.

Your partner through it all.