Taryn Poole, center, was crowned queen of the Linn County Fair and Rodeo on Saturday evening. Candidates Mia Miek, left, and Remi Rothlisberger joined her on the stage for the ceremony. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)
MOUND CITY – An aggressive sales campaign by a Jayhawk-Linn High School junior from Mound City broke a sales record and earned her the title of the queen of the 2022 Linn County Fair and Rodeo.
Taryn Poole was crowned queen in a ceremony Saturday evening before the start of the demolition derby. The 2021 fair queen Addison Stokes-Todd presented Poole with the cape, a crown and flowers in her final act as reigning queen.
According to Wade Teagarden, Linn County Fair Board member in charge of the contest, Poole sold $20,593 worth of tickets, topping the previous record set in 2018 by about $600. As winner of the contest, Poole is entitled to a minimum $1,000 cash prize for her efforts.
She is the daughter of Corey and Dezerae Poole of Mound City. Her sales accounted for more than half of the amount of all ticket sales.
Addison Stokes-Todd, the 2021 fair queen, waves to the crowd in one of her final acts as queen. (Roger Sims/Linn County Journal)
All together, the three candidates, including Remi Rothlisberger of Mound City and Mia Miek of Pleasanton, sold $40,589 in tickets, the third highest in the history of the event. Rothlisberger, a senior at Jayhawk-Linn had ticket sales of $15,580. Miek, a freshman at Pleasanton High School, sold $4,145 worth of tickets.
Rothlisberger is the daughter of Jason and Mendy Rothlisberger of Mound City. Miek is the daughter of Faith and Nathan Meik of Pleasanton.
In his presentation, Teagarden noted the difficulty for a freshman competing in the contest. While the older girls can drive around the county to make sales, younger girls can’t drive themselves.
Events included in the ticket sales during the nine-day run of the fair include the two nights of demolition derby, the Outlaw Truck and Tractor Pull last weekend and two nights of the PCRA rodeo this coming weekend.
The Linn County Fair and Rodeo counts heavily on ticket sales by queen candidates to finance the events at the fair.