By William Smith
It was a clean sweep.
Allison Nalley was crowned Des Moines County Fair Queen Tuesday night, but she did far more than win the crown. She took home every prize that was up for grabs.
Nalley could barely contain her excitement Tuesday night.
“I’m in such a shock. I really don’t know what I expected,” she said. “I’m just a little bit different than a traditional fair queen.”
Nalley, 18, graduated from Mediapolis High School and Southeastern Community College with honors this past May. She still has more schooling in front of her. She plans to attend Cottey College in Missouri in the fall to study business management.
But before she gets to all that, Nalley wants to take one more stab at being a fair queen. She came close a few years ago but didn’t win the grand prize.
She wasn’t sure she could this time, either. But her friends convinced her otherwise.
“My friends all told me, ‘Allison, to run again. You will sweep the floor (with the competition).’ I said, I don’t know about that, but I’ll run again,” she said.
Nalley took her second run dead seriously, out-earning every other contestant through T-shirt sales. That was just one of the prizes she received.
Her greatest challenge was holding back tears that would smear her make-up. Her mother, Jill Nalley, immediately got up on stage and embraced her. Jill was crying the whole time. She was still crying 10 minutes later.
“She’s crying a lot,” Allison said with a laugh.
Nalley has been in 4-H since first grade and will be showing off her animals later this week — in addition to handing out ribbons as part of her fair queen duty.
The Des Moines County Fair is a big part of Nalley’s life. But her endless expense of energy and curious mind drive an interest that goes far beyond the fair. After finishing school, her ultimate goal is to obtain a career in fashion marketing.
“I was the lead in my school musical at Mediapolis. I was Sandy in ‘Grease.’ And I’ve done singing and speech competitions, was also an officer in the Mediapolis FFA chapter. My interests vary,” she said.
That’s an understatement. Aside from 4-H and FFA, Nalley was active in student council, the National Honor Society, soccer, cheerleading, speech, quiz bowl, choir, and drama. Her involvement in the fair includes static exhibits, and she’s one of those confident teen rustlers who can move around 2,000 pounds of live beef during the cattle show.
“I remember getting my picture with the governor, Terry Branstad, when I was 7 years old,” she said. “I got a picture with him and my bucket-bottle calf, Buttercup.”
Nalley has plenty of sound advice for the fair queens coming up behind her. But it all boils down to one point.
“It’s important to be yourself,” she said. “Just be yourself in every situation. I didn’t think I would get this far. You get so much further by being yourself.”
Brenna Thie came in third place and was crowned Miss Fair Spirit, and Jennifer Lohman came in second and was crowned Fair Princess.