Across Indiana
The State Fair Queens
Clip | 4m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
The Indiana State Fair has a wide array of queens from all over the state.
The Indiana State Fair is just days away! Travel back in time with Across Indiana producer David Stoelk as he travels to the 1994 Indiana State Fair to meet some of the fair royalty.
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Across Indiana is a local public television program presented by WFYI
Across Indiana
The State Fair Queens
Clip | 4m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
The Indiana State Fair is just days away! Travel back in time with Across Indiana producer David Stoelk as he travels to the 1994 Indiana State Fair to meet some of the fair royalty.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Oh, sure, it looks innocent enough, and what could be more American than the Indiana State Fair, one of this country's biggest and proudest.
Well, fellow Hoosiers, call me Joe McCarthy but there's something that's going on at the fair which threatens our very democratic freedom, and it's been going on for quite some time.
You may have seen this menace to our American way of life without even noticing it.
That's how they do it, you know.
I'm referring to those queens that keep popping up at the fair - Enough of this!
Listen to me, every one of you.
Never again will you dare, in my presence, to condone your crimes under the mask of patriotism.
No more of such talk.
Do you hear?
- We are a monarchist.
We are planning the overthrow of these grounds, maybe the entire city.
♪ God save the Queen ♪ ♪ The fascist regime ♪ - Well, you do have a lot of state fair queens, don't you?
- Oh, number of 'em.
Number of 'em.
Just, for instance, and these are just a few on campus, there are a lot more than this.
But we have Indiana Dairy Goat Youth Representative.
That's a democratic way of saying princess or queen.
The Pure Bred Pork Queen, National Tamworth Queen.
- [Narrator] There are about 40 monarchs that reign over the fair, representing countless breeds of livestock.
Among them are the Milking Shorthorn Queen, and this suspicious display of futile power, the Belgian Co-Queens.
- I'm the Indiana Illinois Watermelon Queen.
- Indiana and Illinois.
How'd that happen?
- Well, it just ends up that the states that I represent, I represent two states.
- [Interviewer] How does one become a Honey Queen?
- I sent in an essay as the first part of the judging.
Then I also completed an interview.
And it's mostly based on your knowledge about bees, beekeeping and honey.
- [Narrator] Nicole Helfrich is the Indiana State Fair Queen.
That would make her the queen of all queens.
She gets a golf cart.
- Just between you and me, out of all the state fair queens, who's the prettiest?
- Well, you know, I can't judge that.
It would be wrong judging my own gender.
- Oh, you weary me with your implications.
Come to the point.
♪ There she goes ♪ ♪ There she goes again ♪ - [Interviewer] Why aren't you a full-fledged queen?
- This is as far as I can go, actually, is the Indiana State Dairy Princess.
- Do you someday aspire to be the Dairy Queen?
- Not really.
Someday I'd like to own my own farm, right now.
- How far can you spit a watermelon seed?
- Well, the last watermelon seed spit that we did have, I spit 26 feet, seven inches, so so far that's my best.
- Just what is going on in that piratical mind of yours?
- Would you mind if I called you Honey?
- Everybody else has been doing it, so it doesn't really bother me.
- Out of my court before I order your arrest!
(dramatic music) - [Interviewer] Does that tiara ever hurt?
- Actually, yes.
It's really heavy, But it's a lot of fun to be able to wear it.
- Oh, yes.
Oh yes.
I went to a show one time at Shelby County Fair, and the show was so long I had a dent in my head from my tiara.
- Why aren't there any kings?
- I don't know.
That's a good question.
Maybe it's, I don't know.
I really don't know.
- It's not really as easy as it looks, but it is a lot of fun.
We do a lot of traveling.
- This summer I've traveled more than 8,000 miles and visited more than 45 different counties promoting the Indiana State Fair.
And so it's been a great honor just to see the state of Indiana in its entirety, and of course, be at the State Fair having a lot of fun.
(people cheering) - For England and the Queen!
- Now you may go.
- [Announcer] For more "Across Indiana" stories, go to wfyi.org/acrossindiana.
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