The Illinois State Pageant starts every year in January, each county fair queen in the state of Illinois is presented with having the chance to go to Springfield to compete for the title of Miss Illinois County Fair Queen.

The Williamson County Fair Queen Ella Horn, Carterville High School Class of 2024, got into the top 15 in the finals. She had a very great speech about her sixteenth birthday, and how she has a F150.

She was asked three  questions, one of them was about how do you feel about the male agriculture? As a female, how do you think women should overcome this? Ella Horn said “Growing up with a non-traditional background, I went to school where they didn’t offer Future Farmers of America or any source of agriculture class. I believe it is important to see that they can break stereotypes and step into agriculture because it is so much more than just tractors and crops, but it’s textiles and clothing and things that are are in your everyday class that you don’t even notice, so being able to advocate for young woman to come out and get involved in something that I believe this incredibly important in today’s society.”

Carterville junior Addy Horn says, “When I am older I do want to compete for Miss Williamson County because my sister won, and she said that she had a blast being queen. Every second of her being Queen, she was always going on about how she loved being Miss Williamson County.”

When it was time for crowning the new Miss Illinois County Fair Queen 2025, many locals were there for Ella Horn. In the end, everyone had a blast being there, and she even made new friends from other counties that were also competing as Perry County, Madison County, and White County. Carterville freshman Dariyan Carney said, “ I do plan on competing for Miss Williamson County. I competed when I was younger and I hope to complete it and go to state.”