Photos by Scott Halasz | Greene County News
The 2023 Greene County Fair Royalty was crowned Sunday night. Pictured (left to right) are River Demmy-Stover, prince; Olivia Dickens, princess; Emma Beard, queen runner-up, and Alice Hook, queen.
Alice Hook is all smiles after being crowned 2023 Greene County Fair Queen.
XENIA — Watching the Greene County Fair royalty contest as a young kid, Alice Hook set a lofty goal.
“It’s always been my dream since I was a little girl to be fair queen,” the 18 year old and Goal Getter 4-H club member said. “But then I was like, ‘I don’t think it could be me.’“
She thought wrong.
In her 10th and final year in 4-H, Hook was crowned fair queen Sunday night, an appropriate way to end her time as a junior fair competitor.
“I have put my heart and soul into 4-H,” Hook said before being whisked away to the grandstand in a golf cart for the calf scrambles. “All my accomplishments have meant something. This is a dream come true.”
Hook liked her chances, especially after preparing her speech, which focused on how she handled conflicting events — being able to show an animal at the state fair and at the Greene County Fair. She chose to stay local since she had already been to the state fair and felt that she should be the one showing her animal here.
Despite that impressive answer for the judges to ponder, Hook didn’t get overconfident.
“I was like if I don’t win, I’ve poured my heart into it,” she said. “It’s honestly the progress. I want to show younger club members it’s not about if you win, it’s about what you do to get there.”
A first-time queen candidate, Hook — who was nudged just a little to enter the royalty competition — encouraged other 4-H kids to get out of their comfort zone.
“Because you never know what’s going to happen,” she said. “Like being fair queen.”
Emma Beard, a member of Barnyard Kids and in her 10th year in 4-H, was the queen runner-up.
River Demmy-Stover, 15 and a member of the R2T2 4-H club, was named the prince, while Olivia Dickens, 13 and a member of Kreative Kids 4-H club, was the princess.
Check out our websites, xeniagazette.com and fairborndailyherald.com, for more fair stories and photos.
Reach Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.
