New state fair queen goes from show ring to queen’s crown

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — For 2024 Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Natalie Evans, being onstage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield wasn’t that much different from being in a livestock show ring.

“No matter what your stage, whether it’s a show ring or an actual stage, you are always up there in front of people you don’t know. And you never know how your animal is going to behave and, to me, that compares to a pageant because you never know how things are going to go,” she said.

Evans and 72 other county fair queens competed in the annual pageant, conducted during the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs annual meeting and convention.

Evans, 19, a sophomore at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, represented Morgan County. She is the first Morgan County Fair Queen to wear the state crown.

While Evans is well used to the livestock show ring, having shown Red Angus cattle, sheep and hogs at the county, state and national levels, the requirements of a pageant were something different.

“If you asked me a year ago, I probably would have told you I wasn’t going to do it. I was always intimidated by it, but it was something that was always in the back of my mind,” said Evans, a graduate of Routt Catholic High School in Jacksonville.

Evans is a pre-veterinary major with a minor in chemistry. She hopes to attend the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and wants to focus on large animal medicine.

Due to her college class schedule, she knew that this would be the last year she would be able to try for the county and State Fair queen crowns.

“I did not want to regret not doing it. I wanted to be able to say I have done it, just for the experience, and for the people I would get to meet,” she said.

Evans is the daughter of Sean and Amy Evans of Jacksonville. She has a younger sister, Bella, and an older brother, Cole.

The state pageant consists of an interview before a panel of judges, swimsuit and evening gown categories, a speech in front of the pageant audience and then answering three “pop-up” questions in front of the audience.

Evans said that even with her years of showing livestock, where she participated in and won different showmanship contests, confidence was a challenge.

“My directors, before going into the state pageant weekend, told me, ‘you need to be confident in yourself.’ That sometimes is something I lack a little bit, confidence. The most challenging part is to go up on that stage. I told myself, ‘you know what you know, you’ve gotten this far for a reason,’” she said.

Evans’ pageant posse consisted of Gracie Holt, Rae Richardson and Tonia Richardson and Evans’s sister, Bella.

“I have three amazing directors, Gracie, Rae and Tonia. They have been my team for the past six months and for the state pageant weekend. My sister, Bella, did my makeup and my parents were there, too,” Evans said.

She now focuses on showing Red Angus cattle and she said that her years of showing livestock have taught her how to win — and lose.

“From a young age, I was taught to just go out there and have fun and do my best. But I also was taught what it was like to lose and to not always come away with a win,” she said.

“I think that is the most important thing I have gained through showing livestock, is just realizing that you will be humbled very quickly. It helps me as a person, just to realize that life isn’t always going to go the way that you want it and that is something you are just going to have to deal with.”

Evans also was thankful for advice from her dad.

“My dad has always pushed me, from a young age, to get out and speak in public. When I went on the stage at the Morgan County Fair, that was the biggest audience I had ever talked to,” she said.

“After that, I felt like I could talk to anybody. I competed in some public speaking contests before then, but that truly was a moment that I had so much confidence in myself and I told myself, ‘you can do this!’”

Evans said she would recommend participating in the county fair queen pageants for the experience.

“Having been in the pageants, I truly see the value of them, the level of professionalism you learn from doing your interview, from having to give a speech on stage,” she said.

“When you participate in a pageant, you gain so much confidence and professionalism and you also gain networking opportunities when you put yourself out there.”

Evans plans to follow in the footsteps of the 2023 Miss Illinois County Fair Queen, Paige Van Dyke, who showed cattle and who continued to show cattle during her reign. Van Dyke was photographed in the show ring wearing her sash and crown.

“I am going to be showing. I talked about with Sandy (Hoke, the state fair pageant director). I still wanted to be able to show cattle. That has been part of my life since I was a little kid, so I wanted to be able to do that,” Evans said.

“I will be showing at county fairs and the Illinois State Fair, as well as Junior Nationals for Red Angus cattle. I am following in Paige’s footsteps and I am very grateful that the IAAF board members and Sandy were so understanding about that.”

Evans will move between the stage and the show ring as she travels around to at least 20 county fairs this summer. The pageant experience, starting at those county fairs, is one she would recommend.

“People view pageants as pretty girls in dresses just walking around on a stage. Once you get into it, you have to be yourself, but you gain such a level of confidence,” Evans said.

She will, of course, be at the Morgan County Fair, July 9-14, at the fairgrounds in Jacksonville.

As the fair’s most visible hype person, Evans urged everyone to join the Morgan County Fair “family.”

“Morgan County is not just a county, we are a family. The Morgan County Fair is a great example of that, with something for every member of the family. We have livestock shows, we have a country concert, featuring Brantley Gilbert, Mitchell Tenpenny and Sarah Evans,” she said.

“If you are looking for fun for the whole family and something to do every day of fair week, you need to come to the Morgan County Fair and indulge in our fair, one of the best fairs out there.”