Meet your 2023 Jasper County Fair Queen

“Oh my gosh! Did this just happen?”

That is what was going through Jocelyn Harder’s head the moment she was crowned the 2023 Jasper County Fair Queen. The Baxter Community School District student and nine other local contestants competed in the Jasper County Fair Queen Contest on Jan. 24 at the Newton Community Theatre.

Harder is the daughter of Eric and Laura Harder. At school, she is involved in FFA, wrestling, cheer, track, Big Bolt Little Bolt mentoring and National Honor Society. According to her contestant bio, Harder believes being fair queen will help her develop leadership skills and public speaking skills.

Looking back on the contest, Harder said she had so much fun meeting the other girls and getting to know them. It feels like they are one big family now, she said.

“We got super close over the contest by just talking about random topics,” Harder said. “It was all close throughout the entire contest. We were all able to hear a little bit of each other’s interviews and answers to questions. We all just felt super close. There wasn’t one person who stood out or anything like that.”

Indeed, it was a close competition. With 10 contestants competing for the crown and sash, it was easily one of the biggest turnouts in the contest in recent years. In addition to Harder being crowned queen, Hope Bonham of Prairie City was crowned the 2023 Jasper County Fair Queen Princess.

All contestants were given a fair queen contestant sash to wear during the Jasper County Fair this year, which is being held July 14-20.

Harder grew up around the Jasper County Fair, and she loves the opportunity to meet new people, hang out with friends and show her livestock. She said the fair is a good way to experience the community and help others, especially the little kids who are just learning how to show and participate for the first time.

Harder will be experiencing the fair this year in a completely different way as the fair queen.

“It’s definitely a new experience and I’ll get to see things from a different side that I haven’t seen before,” she said in an interview with the Newton News after the contest. “It will just be a whole new way to see things that I haven’t done before and go to things that I normally don’t do, too.”