Subjects of the 2024 Marion County Fair, behold your new royalty.

The fair’s king, queen, prince and princess were coronated Monday after a lengthy selection process from some of the county’s finest 4-H and FFA youth.

Reigning for the next year will be Adrian Starcher, king; Reagan Fitsko, queen; Josiah Dawson, prince; and Marissa Loyer, princess.

The 174th Marion County Fair runs through Saturday night. This year’s theme is Christmas in July.

Gates open 8 a.m. every day. Admission is $10. Children younger than 11 are free.

‘I just hope I can be a good role model’

The fair’s queen is 17. She’s a senior at River Valley High School.

Fitsko joined the Whetstone Wranglers 4-H Club 10 years ago, and is now in FFA. She has shown dairy feeders every year.

It wasn’t until hanging out with last year’s queen that she realized the position was something she might enjoy herself. She applied, then found herself amid strong competition.

“I was nervous,” Fitsko said. “I spent a lot of time on my application though, and I prepared pretty well for my interview.”

She is excited to represent Marion County for the next year.

“I just hope I can be a good role model to the little kids,” Fitsko said. “I always remember, when I was just a little thing, running around here and seeing them and being like, ‘wow, they’re so cool.’ So I hope I can be a good role model to them, like they were to me.”

‘Held at high standards of respect’

The fair’s king is 16. He’s a junior at Marion Harding High School.

Starcher joined the Greencamp Shamrocks 4-H Club seven years ago. His projects include Drug & Alcohol Abuse and Yeast Breads on the Rise. He also shows rabbits.

He knew years ago he wanted to someday wear the fair king’s sash.

“My earliest memories of the fair, I remember that the fair royalty were people that were held at high standards of respect,” Starcher said. “The higher respect that these people had led me to one day want to become fair king.”

Now that he’s the king, he plans to serve Marion County well.

“Representing the county, I hope to visit as many fairs as possible,” Starcher said. “I have already been looking into going to the Cincinnati fair, Delaware County’s, and hopefully to the state fair, too.”

‘Help people and feel responsible’

Princess Loyer is 15 years old and a sophomore at River Valley High School.

She joined the Marion County Sharpshooters 4-H Club six years ago and is now in FFA. She shows goats and beef steers.

“I remember, my first year in 4-H, watching the coronation and always thinking I wanted to do that,” Loyer said. “So it’s kind of been a thing in the making, I guess.”

Prince Dawson is 14 years old and a freshman at Marion Harding High School.

He joined the Greencamp Shamrocks 4-H Club five years ago. He shows chickens.

“I’ve known since the beginning of the 4-H season this year that I wanted to be the prince,” Dawson said. “I wanted to be the prince so that I could help people and feel responsible.”

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion County Fair king and queen are Adrian Starcher, Reagan Fitsko