With a scenic Sunday evening sunset, the Monroe County Fair came to a close for another year that, though successful, left plenty of folks wringing the sweat from their shirts most of the week.

Monroe County Fair Association President Don Schrader gave his annual post-fair review, offering a fair assessment of activity around the barns, arenas and concession stands.

In an unfortunate departure from last year, the 2025 fair proved to be a scorcher, with quick and heavy weekend rain in the area managing to avoid the fairgrounds and keep things hot and humid all through the week.

Schrader remarked that this weather is likely the reason attendance dipped a bit compared to last year.

“It was one of the hottest fairs, temperature-wise, in several years,” Schrader said. “It was a good fair. It wasn’t a record-breaker by any means because the extreme heat held attendance down as well as the food and beer sales.”

The heat was also the cause for a few medical incidents that took place at the fairgrounds this year, with emergency personnel quickly responding to a handful of individuals who fainted or had other issues through the week.

While some might have opted to stay at home and enjoy their air conditioning, those who did stop by the fairgrounds enjoyed plenty of activities.

Schrader said entries for livestock events were fairly similar to last year, and the highlights of Wednesday and Friday were busier than last year with 97 cars in the Figure 8 Race and 101 in the Demolition Derby.

The tractor pull events at the fair had similar showings compared to last year. The only event impacted by the weather was the garden tractor pull, which set up in the cattle barn rather than in the main arena so as to enjoy some Sunday morning shade.

Another big event for the week, the 4H & FFA Market Animal Auction, also proved to be a success, raising around $230,000 for the local ag groups.

Schrader voiced his support for the fair association board and all those who helped oversee events or contributed to this year’s successful county fair.

“The fair board, superintendents, community support was awesome,” Schrader said. “Everybody did everything they could. I let Mother Nature take care of the weather, and she decided to make it hot.”

While the fair was as successful as ever, those at the fairgrounds this year all felt in some way the tragic loss of Emma Schultheis, a young girl who was a familiar face at the fairgrounds and whose passing was announced last Monday.

The 14-year-old was recognized at Thursday’s evening auction, where her steer and hog respectively sold for $7,500 and $4,000.

Schultheis was further honored during FFA Fun Night on Sunday evening. Along with some fond sentiments being expressed for her prior to the festivities, the Red Bud FFA group – of which Schultheis was a member – wore shirts with her name on their shoulders and ultimately won the event for her. 

Sunday would have been her 15th birthday.

Schrader acknowledged the loss of Schultheis.

“We were all saddened by the passing of Emma Schultheis,” Schrader said. “She was just a good young lady that was living her dreams at the fair. She had some cattle, she had pigs there to show. The fair was a big thing to her.”

Read more on Emma in a separate article on this week’s front page.

With her halo hanging over the week, Monroe County was left with another fair that will stay in people’s hearts for many years to come.

Already looking at next year’s fair, Schrader noted that proceeds will continue to go back into the fairgrounds. Any projects or renovations will be decided by the fair board sometime this fall.

Schrader also reiterated his thanks to all those who had a hand in this year’s fair.

“The support from the community was great, has always been and continues to be better than ever,” Schrader said.

Celebrating a special fair this past week was 2025 Monroe County Fair Queen Riley McDermott, who was joined by her Little Miss Vivian Hewitt.

McDermott spoke positively about her experience so far as fair queen, expressing a particular fondness for the Figure 8 Race and Demolition Derby as well as her time judging the Rooster Crowing Contest.

“I’ve been going to the fair ever since I was little, so it wasn’t really anything I didn’t expect,” McDermott said. “I had done pretty much everything that I did as fair queen at some point, but definitely at a smaller scale.”

Hewitt likewise said she enjoyed her time at the crowing contest and the vehicle events – though she also enjoyed the opportunity to take a ride in a stagecoach.

McDermott also spoke to her status as a representative of the county as well as local agriculture.

“Serving as a face for the community and a role model for so many people, including little ones, really made this fair truly exceptional,” McDermott said.

Looking at the next year as fair royalty, Hewitt said she’s already looking forward to next year’s Fair Queen Pageant and the selection of the 2026 Little Miss – though she’s also eager to join in future parades and watch McDermott at the state fair.

McDermott spoke about advocacy as she discussed the rest of her time as fair queen.

“One of the main reasons why I ran for Miss Monroe County is because I want to help advocate for agriculture, and I’ve definitely already done that through my business Tilled to Table by talking to my customers every Saturday morning, but I definitely believe that having this title and this platform will help me better deliver my message and have a larger impact to our community,” McDermott said.