Mattee Stoicheff: Your New Grange Fair Queen

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Tim Weight

Mattee Stoicheff being crowned by Morgan Bair at the coronation on Wednesday, Aug. 18.

Faith Bennett, Yearbook Spread Editor

Every year, Centre Hall hosts The Grange Fair for families and the community to enjoy the end of summer. The annual event hosts a camping event along with the fair rich with rides, music, and lots of food. And for a certain group of young women, there’s the crowning for the Centre County Grange Fair Queen.

On Wednesday, Aug. 18, junior Mattee Stoicheff was crowned Grange Fair Queen. Along with the crown came the weight of her title. 

As soon as you put the crown on your head it is instantly eyes on you. Kids look up to you and the fair is relying on you to be that role model and spokesperson no matter the time of year,” Stoicheff said. 

The process of becoming queen involved writing and submitting an essay on “what my fair means to my community.” From there, on Aug. 18, 2021, the contestants had a luncheon and interviews with the judges. Stoicheff detailed the experience. 

“Once the luncheon was over we started the coronation where we were judged on our introductions, a 3-5 minute speech on the question “Why come to my fair?”, and response to an impromptu question,” she recalled. 

Stoicheff realized she wanted to be queen a year ago after watching a video of Morgan Bair, who previously held the title for two years. Stoicheff reached out to her in hopes of getting a better understanding of what it means to be queen.

We talked about duties as fair queen, not only during the week but also throughout the year,” Stoicheff said. “Morgan was a huge help along the way.” From there, Stoicheff knew she wanted to be queen.

The Centre County Grange Fair Queen holds the role of promoting the fair and to educating others on the importance of agriculture. During the week of Grange Fair, the queen has to hand out ribbons, participate in activities with kids such as relay races, and help introduce the grandstand entertainers. When Grange Fair is over, she has to visit schools, ride in parades, attend events like The Farm Show, and in January, compete at the State Fair Queen Competition. 

Though Stoicheff is only recognized as the reigning queen for a year, she’s happy to have the opportunity to pass on the title and what she’s learned. “I will make sure I am just as much of a mentor to any other girls interested in running, as [Morgan Bair] was to me.”