A late entrant into the 2018 Platte County Fair Queen contest ended up being the winner this year.
Platte City resident Emma Testorff took first place on Wednesday, July 18, at the Platte Pavilion.
Testorff, a 2015 Northland Christian graduate, took first place among the four entries into this year’s contest. She is about to start her senior year at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, majoring in health exercise science.
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Platte City resident Emma Testorff was crowned the 2018 Platte County Fair Queen. The Missouri Western senior will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Missouri Western Foundation.
She sang Carrie Underwood’s ‘Don’t Forget to Remember Me’ and in the question and answer portion of the contest, she was asked where she saw herself in five years.
“I ask myself this question a lot,” she said. “I’m going to be a senior at Missouri Western and hopefully I’ll get my master’s or doctorate, whichever is needed, in five years from graduate school and working in a school district as an occupational therapist.”
After voting was tabulated, Testorff won first place and with that, a $1,000 scholarship from the Missouri Western Foundation.
She was crowned the queen by last year’s first runner-up, Anne Wurtenberger, a recent West Platte graduate that will be attending Iowa State in the fall. Last year’s queen, Brittany Burns, is currently working at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and was unable to attend.
"I honestly didn't expect to win," Testorff said. "I had such a good time through the whole experience that I would have been happy either way. So when the emcee announced me as the winner, I was shocked but so excited at the same time. I was so honored that the judges felt that I could represent Platte County well at the state fair and hopefully make this county proud."
She didn't decide to run until a week before the contest but when she heard they needed more contestants she decided to try. The fact there was a $1,000 scholarship from the college she attended made it a 'no-brainer.'
"If you would've told me two weeks ago that I would be the 155th Platte County Fair Queen, I would've judged nod like 'mmmhmm, sure,' Testorff added with a laugh.
The first runner-up was Courtney Kipping of Kansas City; Gretchen Hiatt of Weston was the second runner-up and Platte City’s Kayleigh Peterson was Miss Congeniality.
Karlye Horn, the 2014 Fair Queen, introduced each of this year’s candidates.
Kipping, a North Platte graduate and also at senior at Missouri Western, gave a speech about her love for baking and her company Thirty Four: Eight Cakes, which started with her baking for graduation parties and teachers in high school.
The business marketing and management major makes little profit right now but has confidence in its potential. She takes some of her money to upgrade her baking needs, but also donates to two causes close to her: City Union Mission in Kansas City and Casa De Mi Padre orphanage in Santa Cruz, Guatemala — where she went last March with members of Western’s college ministry.
Hiatt, 20, is a physical education major and minoring in health at Northwest Missouri State University. The 2016 West Platte graduate talked about her experience at Kanukuk Kamps in Branson, Mo. It is a Christian sports camp for kids between the ages of 6 to 13.
The two-week camp is a ‘humbling experience’ for her and she stated she donated a portion of her check to a kid who couldn’t afford camp.
“It is more about the experience and not the money,” she said. “I trust in God and realize he will provide for me, even when I have $12 in my bank account. I learned to love others like Christ loved us. God first, others second and I’m third.”
Peterson, a 2018 PCHS grad, talked about how important the fair is to her.
She spoke of her love for the Cliffhanger ride, krautburgers and memories of being a contestant in the Missy/Master event.
She also remember how she became a designated driver when she turned 16 to being able to hear the sounds of the demolition derby, mud-a-thons or tractor pulls from her house five miles away.
“I think the fair is kind of a family reunion,” said the future Missouri student. “It is a social event that brings the whole community together.”