Recent graduate from Warrenton High School, Maddie Dent, was named the 2024 Warren County Fair queen runner up. Like most fair queen contestants, Dent aspired to be a part of fair queen ever since she was a little girl. Not only did Dent make it into the top three, she was also awarded top fair pass seller and top talent. Outside of her queen court duties, Dent has a passion and love for animals which will lead her to attend Missouri State University in the fall, where she will major in animal science and minor in agriculture business. 

Favorite food: Mexican food

Favorite animal: Cow

Favorite music genre: Country

Favorite class in high school: Animal science 

Dream destination: Anywhere in the mountains 

What is your dream job?

“Veterinarian, but strictly with cattle.” 

What was your favorite part of fair queen?

“My favorite part was working the live stock shows and having a different perspective on the show because rather than just watching them, I was handing out ribbons to the kids and everything like that.” 

How did you prepare yourself for the whole process of fair queen?

“My mom helped me the most and made sure my poster boards were ready and she watched me practice my talent.”

What made you want to participate in fair queen?

“I’ve grown up watching fair queen contests. Whenever I was little, I always looked up to those girls and so when I was of age, I was like okay, yeah I’m going to do it.”

What was your talent?

“My talent was showing the vaccinations of a newborn baby calf. So, my sister dressed up in a cow costume and it was like a comedy thing. I showed the different vaccinations and tagging on a newborn baby calf.”

How did it feel to get those awards?

“It felt nice because I worked really hard on selling all my fair passes and asking around. With my talent, I practiced it quite a bit before coronation day, so it also felt good to kind of reap the reward of that.” 

How many fair passes did you sell?

“I believe around 110 passes.”

Take me through what you were feeling when you were standing up on stage in the final three. 

“It was very nerve racking and I don’t know, I couldn’t even think at that moment. I was just standing there and it was all nerve racking, especially with everyone watching me. I was definitely just very nervous.”

What was the hardest part of the entire fair queen process?

“The hardest part was our judging day. I had to do my talent in front of everyone and my interview with the four judges. I practiced my talent a lot, but whenever I got up there on stage and everyone saw me, I was like oh man it’s more than just my mom watching me this time.” 

What was the easiest part?

“The easiest part was fair week and attending all the events and showing my face and everything like that.”

How was this year at the fair different compared to other years?

“Other years, I never had to work any of the shows. I always stayed back and watched it. But then this year, I had to attend all of that as a queen contestant and kind of work the shows. With the tractor pole, I went on stage and introduced myself, but in previous years, I would just sit there and watch. It’s definitely different being the center of attention rather than just staying back, but I got to interact more with the community and that made it a little more fun than previous years.” 

What advice do you have for future fair queen contestants?

“Just go and do it, even if you’re iffy about it, always go and do it. Even if you don’t win queen or you’re not on court, it’s going to be fun no matter what. It’s a different experience than just a regular fair year.”