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The Citizen, 2008-08-21, Page 11The Huron County Queen of the Furrow and the Plow Princess are nearing the end of their time as county ambassadors. The 2007 Queen, Margaret Vincent of East Wawanosh has appeared in several parades and events, representing the county plowing match, which is heading into its 81st year. While the Queen of the Furrow competition has been in existence since the 1960s, the Princess contest is relatively new. The current Princess, Kabrina Bishop of Morris, is the third in Huron County’s history. Bishop, 15, says the contest went a long way to developing her life skills, not just preparing her for the Queen of the Furrow competition, as the contest is often described. Saying she was “totally shocked” to win, Bishop has enjoyed her time as the Princess and is looking forward to returning to F.E. Madill Secondary School after taking the summer off for her Grade 10 year. Her successor will be one of 12 girls, two of which she personally recommended to contest organizer Ruth Townsend. While the Princess contest is still in its infant stages, Huron County has never had any problem attracting contestants. Six contestants vied for the title of Huron County’s first Princess in 2005, and the numbers have grown ever since. Townsend says she is very proud to see so many contestants. She is also proud to see the Princess contest doing what it is meant to do, prepare girls for the Queen of the Furrow competition. This year, Huron County’s first Princess, Jory Wilts will be one of the seven contestants vying for the Queen’s crown. With nearly 20 contestants between the two competitions, Vincent says it makes her proud to be from Huron County. As Queen, she attended several functions where she spoke with other Queens from all over Ontario and even Canada. “Many of the Queens I met at functions had held their crown for several years because no one else would compete. A lot of towns around Ontario don’t have a lot of girls interested,” the 19-year-old said. “Huron County has seven this year and 12 in the Princess contest and that’s great.” Vincent never went through the Princess contest, but says that afterwitnessing it, she can see how itwould help a potential Queen of theFurrow contestant in the future.The Princess contest, for girlsaged 12-15, is essentially the Queenof the Furrow contest, but on a slightly smaller scale. Queen contestants are asked to perform a two to three-minute speech, then go through the interview process and perform an impromptu speech, which in Huron County means reaching into a bag and pulling out a physical item and speaking about it for two minutes. Vincent, for her impromptu speech, pulled a pair of pliers from the bag. She was able to speak about a story they evoked, or anything that pliers made her think about. She admits though, that it was not the easiest of exercises, saying that shewas stumped.Queen contestants also have toplow, as it is the name of the game atthe Huron County Plowing Match,while Princess candidates do not.Princess contestants have to prepare and perform a one to two- minute speech and then are interviewed by the judges. There is no impromptu speech in the Princess contest. The prepared speech can be on any topic, although given the nature of the competition, an agricultural theme is a good idea. Vincent decided to speak about John Deere last year, the man, not the tractor. Since becoming the Queen of the Furrow, Vincent says that her confidence has gone up and she feels more aware of her surroundings in terms of issues facing the general public.After placing her crown upon thehead of her successor tomorrow,Vincent will enter her first year atthe University of Guelph’sRidgetown campus where she willstudy Environmental Management and hope to eventually get into Agricultural Science. She says that she was much more comfortable in the interviewing process than she expected to be and she is very comfortable speaking in front of people now, a skill the Queen of the Furrow competition helped her with. This year’s Princess contest will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 21 and the Queen of the Furrow competition will begin at 1 p.m. on Aug. 22 with the speeches. The new Queen will be crowned later that evening. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2008. PAGE 11. Twelve contestants are vying for the title of 2008 Plow Princess at the Huron County Plowing Match. KATIE SPARLING Katie of Varna is the daughter of Jim and Tammy Sparling. She is a Grade 9 student at St. Anne’s Catholic School who enjoys ringette, baseball and swimming lessons. KRISTEN GROBBINK Kristen is the daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Grobbink of Walton. She is a Grade 10 at St. Anne’s Catholic School and enjoys playing soccer. MORGAN DEITNER The daughter of Kevin and Alicia Deitner of Ethel, Morgan is entering Grade 10 at F.E. Madill Secondary School. SYDNEY FALCONER Sydney is the daughter of Les and Deb Falconer of RR5, Clinton. Clinton. The 13-year-old is attending Central Huron Secondary School. She enjoys playing soccer. DANIKA KLAVER Danika of RR5 Seaforth is the daughter of Casey and Sofie Klaver The 13-year-old attends school in St. Columban. Her hobbies include stepdancing, reading and playing with her pet rabbit. AMBER BRODIE A Central Huron Secondary School student, Amber is the daughter of Don and Pat Brodie, RR1 Brucefield. Amber likes to play sports. MICHELE STUDHALTER Michele of Blyth is the daughter of Josef and Susanne Studhalter. An F.E. Madill Secondary School Grade 9 student, she enjoys skiing, working on the farm and biking. URSINA STUDHALTER Ursina of Blyth is also a daughter of Josef and Susanne Studhalter. She is attending Grade 11 at F.E. Madill Secondary School. Her hobbies include horseback riding, 4H dairy cows and goats and reading KATIE HERN Katie of RR1 Woodham is the daughter of Mike and Andrea Hern. She is entering Grade 9 at South Huron District High School CAROLINE MCDOWELL Caroline is the daughter of Ron and Alice McDowell, RR1, Belgrave. Entering Grade 8 at East Wawanosh Public School, Caroline spends her spare time playing sports, especially hockey, and going on trips with family and friends. ASHLEIGH SHAW Ashleigh of Jamestown is the daughter of Barry and Lee-Anne Shaw. She works at the Wroxeter Restaurant as a waitress. Ashleigh grew up in Bluevale with her grandparents close by. She likes to help out in the barns and fields. SHANNON JARED Shannon is the daughter of John and Susan van Vliet of RR1 Walton. Reflections of a year as a Queen and a Princess Their time is up After enjoying a year at the top, Huron County Princess Kabrina Bishop, left, and Huron County Queen of the Furrow Margaret Vincent will place their crowns upon two new heads this week, making way for a new Queen and a new Princess at this year’s Huron County Plowing Match. Bishop will crown her successor on Aug. 21 at Junior Day and Vincent will meet the new Queen on Friday. (Shawn Loughlin photo) Seven girls are in the running for this year’s Queen of the Furrow title. JENNIFER EEDY Jennifer was born and raised on her family farm at RR4, Walton. She is returning to Fanshawe College in September for her second year studying business marketing. Jennifer plans on going to university after college to complete her business degree She has been employed this summer at the Bank of Montreal and Seaforth Foodland JORY WILLETS Jory of Belmore is the 17-year-old daughter of Alan and Laurie Willets. She is a Grade 12 student at F.E. Madill Secondary School and hopes to eventually attend university in the medical field. MELISSA SPARLING Melissa, 20 of Varna is the daughter of Jim and Tammy. She is attending Fanshawe College in London for horticulture and has worked at Te-em Farm Greenhouses for six years in the summer season. Melissa is actively involved in 4-H and the Seaforth Agricultural Society. EMILY MOORE Emily of Wingham is the daughter of Lema Chapple. She hopes to attend Ridgetown College in 2009, and is currentlyworking on a farm and at Edgar’s Feed and Seed. She is involved in 4-H, 4-wheeling and rugby SARA MARGARET BAKER The 2007 Brussels Fall Fair Ambassador, 18, is the daughter of Alan and Shirley Baker RR3, Brussels. Sarah is hoping to study veterinary medicine. She likes horseback riding, roping and helping on the family farm. She milks cattle for Cranbrook Farm. She is an active member of Brussels/Belgrave Beef 4-H Club. BETH KRESKY Beth of Lucknow, is the 20 year- old daughter of Shawn and Trish Drennan. She is an active member and volunteers in 4-H. ROSANNA GROBBINK Rosanna, 22, of RR3, Walton is the daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Grobbink. She achieved her Bachelor of Science in Bio-medical Sciences degree at the University of Guelph and her Bachelor of Education- Intermediate/Senior Qualifications with Biology, General Science and Chemistry teachables at the University of Western Ontario. Rosanna will be supply teaching in the fall. 12 hope to win Princess crown By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen 7 compete to be 2008 Queen BUY? SELL? TRY CLASSIFIED