Wyoming County Fair

Wyoming County Fair queen scores rare double with Miss Congeniality win

Carpenter, of Silver Lake, was recognized after the exacting competition to see exactly which young lady best represents Wyoming County Fair. She and her court will serve as official ambassadors throughout the coming week and year.

It’s an important role and the winners — each entering their senior years of high school — are chosen because they represent the best the county has to offer.

Carpenter’s court this year includes first runner-up Molly Greene, second runner-up Courtney Carter, and third runner-up Justus Ryan. They said the experience has been crazy and exciting.

“Little girls love us,” Greene said.

Carpenter is the first fair queen since 1997 to also win Miss Congeniality, meaning she was also chosen most popular by her fellow contestants, said queen contest superintendent Sandy Graham.

And that was when Graham’s daughter Stacy Jaggard became fair queen.

“Kelsey just has a great personality and I think she was just a genuine contestant,” Graham said. “She was Miss Congeniality too, so she was well-liked by everybody. This is really cool.”

So how do you become fair queen? Carpenter and her court recommended acting like a girl — polite and feminine — being calm, proud of yourself and really self-confident.

“I have to be well-mannered and just remember everybody is watching,” she said.

Despite the often-stressful talent show, formal dinner and interviews, Carpenter “keeps it real” as a fairgoer. She wanted to show you can be a real girl, even somebody who likes croc shoes and T-shirts, and still win.

“My favorite part was when after the interviews, when we all just sat the table, and hung out and talked,” Carpenter said.

First on today’s itinerary will be rides. Followed by the sundry duties of their newfound status as fair queen and court.

Wyoming County Press Examiner | wcexaminer.com | Serving ...

BY KEVIN WOODRUFF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

Dick Daniels has spent the last 25 years of his life involved with planning competitive runs in Wyoming County.

Daniels, 63, of Lake Carey, said that he started being involved in the runs because he was competing in them.

But even now that he doesn’t run in any, he still continues to be the man behind the scenes at many 5K and 10K runs in the county throughout the year.

Two of the first runs that Daniels ever coordinated in 1986, the February Freeze 5K at Roslund Elementary and the Wisnosky Jewelers Gem Run 5K at the Wyoming County Fair, are both still run to this day.

“Most of the races I coordinated were in conjunction with events that already existed,” Daniels said. “They were a way to try and get more people there.”

One other race that Daniels had a hand in starting that still exists today is the Jack Daniels Mile, formerly called the “Triton Trot.”

The Daniels Mile is named after his son that passed away in a drowning accident in 1993 while visiting family in Florida.

Daniels and Don Sick met up in 1986 and held the first Triton Trot, prior to the Triton Hose Company Parade.

“The parade ended up being cancelled for rain, but we still ran the mile,” Daniels said.

Since the first year, the event had grown, with the most runners in the event’s history taking part last year as 279 runners traversed the streets of Tunkhannock.

This past Thursday, 226 runners took part, for the event’s second largest turnout.

In addition to the February Freeze, Gem Run and Daniels Mile, Daniels also helps coordinate the Frank J. Valvano Memorial Run at Lake Carey.

He said that with so many runs in a short period of time, his life can become stressful.

“With Frank’s (Valvano) race and this one (Daniels Run) being back-to-back in less than a week’s time, it can get pretty stressful,” Daniels said.

Daniels said that a lot goes into holding the runs, including coming up with a safe course, making sure that there are enough volunteers, taking registrations and making sure each runners’ time gets recorded correctly.

“It’s not so much the planning that stresses me out, but worrying about the traffic,” Daniels said. “You don’t want someone taking a shortcut or getting hit by a car.”

One of the most difficult races that Daniels coordinates is the Daniels Mile in Tunkhannock.

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