Miss McKayla Raines of Seaman, center, was named the 2017 Adams County Junior Fair Queen in ceremonies held on Sunday. Pictured above is Raines and the 2017 Court, from left, Madison Siders (First Runner-Up), McKayla Smith (Second Runner-Up), 2017 Queen McKayla Raines, Kelsea Hamilton (Third Runner-Up), and Veronica Day (Fourth Runner-Up).


NAHS senior will represent county, visit other fairs around the state – 

Story and photo by Patricia Beech – 

McKayla Raines, daughter of Todd and Melanie Rains of Seaman, was crowned Queen of the 126th Adams County Fair Sunday evening.
Raines says she wasn’t expecting to win, but couldn’t be happier about the outcome.
“I’ve always thought the Fair’s Queen pageant was really neat, and I’ve always been drawn to it, but I didn’t actually apply to participate until 10 days before the application was due.”
Raines, who is a member of the Beef and More 4-H Club, says her advisers, Susie Sonner and Raejean Maddox, pushed her to participate in this year’s contest. “If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have done it.”
“She is a wonderful leader,” said Maddox. “She runs our meetings perfectly, she’s organized, she knows what’s going on, and she is very good with the younger kids.”
Raines began her 4-H career with the Beef and More Club when she was eight years old. She now serves as the club’s President.
As part of the competition, Raines had to answer a random question drawn from a hat – “What’s your favorite thing about the fair, and what would you change”?
“This is the one week of the year when all the people in Adams County come together,” she answered. “Everybody comes out and I think the atmosphere is really great.”
What would she change? She says, “The weather, in previous years it’s always been either the hottest or the rainiest week of summer.”
She says in her role as Fair Queen she is most looking forward to going to traveling to other fairs across Ohio. “I think it’s important to talk to people and bounce different ideas off them to find ways to improve our own fair, little ways here and there that can make a big difference.”
Raines, who will be a senior this fall at North Adams High School, calls herself a “science nerd” and says after graduation she plans to achieve her life-long dream of attending the Ohio State University to major in a medical field.