SALEM — New royalty was crowned on Monday night, as the 2026 Miss Marion County Fair Queen Pageant was held at the fairgrounds in Salem.
When all was said and done, 19-year-old Salem resident Kallie Walsh was named as the 2026 Queen, beating out seven other contestants for the title. Kallie is the daughter of David and Randa Walsh of Salem and Erin and Ricky Jones of Mount Zion. She will enter her sophomore year at Southern Illinois University this fall, pursuing her bachelor’s in nursing with a minor in business.
After hearing her name announced as the winner on Monday, Kallie admits that she was in disbelief, at first.
“Am I dreaming? This is surreal,” she said were her first thoughts after the announcement was made.
Kallie said it is an honor to be selected to represent Marion County as the new fair queen.
“I’ve just grown up around many past county fair queens, seen the impact that they’ve had on so many people, and I wanted to make an impact myself,” she said of her reason for participating in the pageant.
She also saluted her fellow contestants, who have all spent the past several weeks working and preparing for the pageant together.
“Every single one of these girls puts in so much hard work,” said Kallie. “Every single Monday we were out here practicing for hours and hours. … Everyone has put in the hard work.”
Kallie is looking forward to the rest of Fair Week, as well as the chance to represent her home county and community for the next year.
“I’m just so grateful,” she said. “I’m just looking forward to representing my community and getting to serve a place that I love so much and that I get to call home.”
The seven other contestants in Monday’s pageant included Kenzi Coffey of Salem, Madison Thrash of Salem, Lorelai Rose of Kinmundy, Jillian Green of Salem, Sierra Ford of Junction City, Abigail Patrick of Salem, and Hannah Duncan of Salem.
In addition to winning the crown, Walsh was also awarded the title of Most Photogenic during the pageant.
First Runner-Up went to Jillian Green, who also won Miss Congeniality.
Lorelai Rose was named Second Runner-Up, and also took home the Russeler Award and the Best in Interview title.
Other special award winners during the queen pageant included: Madison Thrash, who won the online People’s Choice vote; Kenzi Coffey, who was honored with Best Stage Presence; Hannah Duncan, who won Best in Speech and Communication; and Abigail Patrick, who was named Best in Beauty and Physique.
In addition to crowning a new Fair Queen, Monday’s pageant also marked the final moments wearing the crown for 2025 Marion County Fair Queen Ella Douglas.
Douglas commended the new queen and feels she will be an outstanding queen over the coming year.
“Kallie is so deserving,” Douglas said. “Coming from a family farm, she truly knows the hard work that our community puts in. I’m so proud of her.”