Pottawatomie County

Last night we traveled north to the tiny town of Onaga; this is where the Pott County Fair is held every year and has been since the dawn of time.
I'd never watched the "Miss Pottawatomie" contest before, but Brig's gal Paula was a participant so we wanted to see her perform. It was very nice, held in the high school auditorium with really well-executed paintings of old cowtown buildings as a backdrop.
We'd heard that since the dawn of time, an Onaga girl usually wins the crown, and 5 of the 8 girls were from there. All 8 performed a cute dance with barefeet, jeans, and cowboy hats. They all answered a question--Paula was contestant number 5 but the announcer accidentally called her by the wrong name and she was very tactful when emphasizing that she was 'Paula...!"
All the little ladies had spent an afternoon of questions/answers with 3 judges--NOT local.
Most everyone's 'talent' was either a dance, or an oral skit, but Paula sang a lovely operetta song in Italian and she had graceful arm and hand movements and natural poise. I think she'd won a state award with this song at school, but I hadn't heard it yet.)
Later, the announcer read comments about the girls' achievements while they walked in their evening gowns and Paula had some pretty impressive items... besides the numerous activities/clubs/extracurricular things she belongs to, she'd been to KU to Girls State for a week last month. She had been voted "Supreme Court Justice", some type of "Judge" and had also taken a bar exam and received a 100%. She'd also designed the blue formal she was wearing and beaded it, and also the 'Elizabethan' type-opera dress. (The pic up top is a fake crown on an old photo: Paula and Brig wore maroon to a school dance.)
As the judges left to put in their final votes, an awesome comedian came on stage and had us laughing til our sides ached--he was quite clever.
At the end, we waited on the edge of our seats...what was going to happen? Another Wamego girl ended up winning a Congeniality scholarship, an Onaga girl won some type monetary certificate too, then Paula ended up winning the overall title, so it was really fun!
So, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, she will have to hand out ribbons/prizes/medals to all of the Fair contestants, so this means from 8:00am to late-- in a livestock pen, stepping around the poo!
Baaaaa.....We will go watch the parade on Sunday at 1:00 and collect candy for the little kids, wave at Paula, and bake in the sun!
Congrats!