The 2026 Hancock County Fair Queen pageants are the traditional kickoff of the Hancock County Fair in Augusta, Illinois each year. The pageants were held on Wednesday, July 22 this year and history continues to be made, it seems like, every year.<\/p>\n
Sierra Lucie accomplished her goal of being the only girl known to ever win all three pageants at the Hancock County Fair. She was named Little Miss Hancock County in 2013, and followed that up by winning the Junior Miss Hancock County crown in 2019.<\/p>\n
In 2026, on her third try at being crowned Hancock County Fair queen, she took the title to secure her place in Hancock County Fair Queen history. Lucie was the second runner up in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n
Sierra, 21, is the daughter of Chuck and Tammy Lucie of Basco, Illinois.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very happy to hear my name called and cannot be more grateful to the judges for giving me this opportunity,\u201d she said after being crowned. \u201cI\u2019m so excited and can\u2019t wait to start the year off strong and make such an impact with everyone that I meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucie indicated she had worked on her public speaking since last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m involved in a lot of different organizations where I\u2019m forced to step outside of my comfort zone and talk to people and be a leader,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo I think that definitely helped bring my confidence to the stage and during my judge\u2019s interview. I looking forward to promoting the fair and the importance of agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n
First runner-up was Myley Jo Allison, 18, daughter of Jennifer Derry of Plymouth, Illinois.<\/p>\n
Allison was also picked as the people\u2019s choice award winner that was voted for by the fans in attendance, and as Miss Congeniality by her other queen contestants.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Junior Miss Hancock County Queen is Adley Marie Rose, 13, daughter of Jonathan and Rena Rose of rural Burnside, Illinois.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised when I heard my name as Junior Miss and was really excited when I went to the center of the stage and got my crown. I am excited for this fair week and to get to know my other queens. Finishing as runner-up last year was motivation to come back and do the pageant again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2026 Junior Miss Hancock County people\u2019s choice winner was Danni Billingsley, 13, daughter of Brian and Jennifer Billingsley of rural Huntsville, Illinois.<\/p>\n
The 2026 Little Miss Hancock County Queen is Hadley Ann Phillips, 8, daughter of Mitch and Lindsay Phillips of Augusta, Illinois. Miss Phillips had this to say after the pageant: \u201cI was shocked to hear my name and I cried when my name was announced.\u201d Being happy and joyful on stage is what she said put her over the top. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted sisters and I will have so much fun with them,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
In the Little Miss competition, the people\u2019s choice winner was Landry Rauch, 7, daughter of Jordan and Shelby Rauch of rural Loraine, Illinois. Rauch was also named the first runner-up.<\/p>\n
2025 Little Miss Charlee Kerker is excited to play travel softball and wants to compete for the Junior Miss and Queen title in the coming years. Her advice to this year\u2019s Little Miss is always smile and make sure your crown is where it needs to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really has been quite a year as Little Miss,\u201d Kerker said. \u201cHanging around with Addalynne and Miranda, I count them as my big sisters now.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Writer\u2019s note: The confidence Kerker had compared to last year doing the interview was like night and day. She gained a lot of confidence being a year older and being around the other queens at parades and events.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s bittersweet for 2025 Queen Miranda Klingler to see her year end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis past year has been amazing. I got share it with Charlee, my Little Miss, and we shared and made a lot of great memories together,\u201d Klingler observed. \u201cIt was a full circle of emotion for me. I was the 2014 Little Miss and being the 2025 Miss has really meant a lot. Especially since Vickie and Taylor Hardy have been around me and by my side this entire year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her advice to this year\u2019s queen is to soak it all in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes by so fast,\u201d she noted. \u201cIt will pass you by before you know it. Give it all you\u2019ve got, go make those memories and get comfortable with being uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Klingler is headed back to Iowa State and will graduate in 2027 with her bachelor\u2019s degree in animal science and a certificate in beef production management.<\/p>\n
For 2025 Junior Miss Addalynne Lawrence, the year has been full of opportunities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis past year has been extraordinary,\u201d she said. \u201cI met Charlee and Miranda last year around this time. They inspire me to be a better person. Both have outgoing and sassy personalities, they are funny and fun to be around. I loved to spend with time them at the fair and everything that we have done.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advice I have for Adley is take every opportunity this pageant gives you and get close with her queen sisters and seize every moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Hancock County Fair Queen pageants are the traditional kickoff of the Hancock County Fair in Augusta,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[69533,116735,116734,5350,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-308545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-augusta","tag-distinguished-young-women","tag-hancock-county","tag-illinois","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}