By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The weather gods shone down on the Wood County Fair Sunday evening in time for the Junior Fair Parade with over 40 units and the crowning of the King and Queen under sunny skies and calm winds.
Winning the tough competition for Wood County Junior Fair King and Queen were Aidan Thomas of Livestock Unlimited 4-H Club and Kamryn Sundermeier, representing the Junior Fair Board.
The new king and queen both admitted being surprised and shocked that they were chosen out of a slate of active, involved candidates.
Aidan, whose older brother Drew was king in 2023, said, “I was so shook by the moment that I couldn’t believe it. It was so surreal for me.”
The son of Any and Holliday Thomas is involved in many activities, including 4-H, Penta-Bowling Green FFA, junior fair board, Bowling Green High choir and cross country. “I think my community involvement contributed to being named king,” he said Sunday night.
“I’m also involved in Young Life, so I get to teach kids about the Bible and Jesus every single weekend. So that’s really cool,” he added.
Once he gets through the royal demands of Wood County Fair week, he hopes to focus on bringing all parts of the fair together.
“Sometimes, I feel like we (as a fair) get divided between livestock and the carnival part of the fair,” he said. “I think the fair is about involving everyone and making sure it’s a good fair for everyone, the fair exhibitors and the person who comes in to experience the fair.”
Kamryn admitted to being “very shocked.” With the winning of the crown, the daughter of Keith and Julie Sundermeier realized she may need to reprioritize some of her activities, which are many.
She is junior fair board treasurer and president of the Blue Ribbon Rangers 4-H Club. She graduated from Eastwood High School this year, where she was in FFA and on the varsity golf team. She’s showing a goat and pig at the fair, but also is a manager at the Perrysburg Chick-fil-A and has a real estate license with the Danberry Realty Perrysburg office.
“I think my vast involvement got me here,” she said. “It’s required late nights, early mornings, some lost hours of sleep, but it all came down to this. And it was very worth it.”
The new responsibilities will require her to “put a few things on pause because my week was already busy.”
Most likely the real estate work will need to pause, “but it’s always in my back pocket, so it’s a good feeling to have it there,” she said.
Because of her busy schedule, she has mostly focused her time in Wood County, but is looking forward to visiting other fairs as a member of the Wood County Junior Fair Royalty Court.
“Getting the opportunity to travel throughout the state is going to be such an incredible experience,” she said.
In addition to the king and queen being crowned, the entire royalty court was announced at the end of the parade.
The other royalty members are Trever Shaffer and Amanda Socie, first runners-up; Konner Chambers and Sara Britton, second runners-up; and Cullen Shank and Katie Parish, third-runners-up.
Trever, son of Shawn and Erin Shaffer, is an 11-year member of Champion Drive 4-H Club, where he is serving as vice president. He is a member of the junior fair board, a 4-H camp counselor and a senior at Elmwood High School, where he participates in band, choir, cross country and track.
Amanda, a member of Hoof Beats 4-H and president of the junior fair board, is the daughter of Alyssa Suman and the late Andrew Socie. She is a combat career engineer with the Army National Guard, who plans to major in biology and psychology starting this fall at Bowling Green State University.
Konner is the son of Karl and Kim Chambers. He is president and an 11-year member of Golden Key 4-H Club and serves on the Wood County Junior Fair Board. He is a three-year member of the Bowling Green FFA and also played football and lacrosse at Bowling Green High School.
Sara is the junior fair board reporter, a 12-year member of Leaders of Tomorrow 4-H Club and the club president. She is the daughter of Jeremy and Holly Wensink, and Bill Britton. The Otsego High School senior is active in FFA, FCCLA, student council, and the Wood County Livestock Judging Team.
Cullen, who represented the Blue Ribbon Rangers 4-H Club, is also a member of the Wood County Top Shots. The son of Ryan and Kelly Shank is a recent graduate of Eastwood High School, where he participated in football and track.
Katie, the daughter of Tim and Amanda Parsh, is a 13-year member and president of the Colorful Clovers 4-H Club. She recently graduated from Bowling Green High School.
Doug and Linda Michaelis were the grand marshals for this year’s junior fair parade. Together they have nearly 90 years as 4-H advisors for the Tontogany Four-Leaf Clovers. They assumed the leadership roles from Doug’s parents, Wayne and Mary Michaelis, who had served as club advisors for 40-plus years.
Led by Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn and his son John, and a golf cart memorializing longtime fair supporters Doug and Mary Ellen Pratt, the parade included 4-H and FFA floats; high school marching bands from Bowling Green, Eastwood, Elmwood, and North Baltimore and Otsego; all of the junior fair king and queen candidates; and a dance performance by Defining Gravity Dance Studio.
Jayne Roth, former Wood County 4-Heducator, was inducted into the Wood County Agricultural Hall of Fame, “for her decades of unwavering service, leadership, dedication and impact on the Wood County ag community,” said Will Gase of the Bowling Green Ag Credit office.
Early in her career as Wood County 4-H agent, she introduced livestock interview judging, killathon and the champion project program that is still utilized today. Those programs have since been implemented statewide.
She was also instrumental in getting the Champion Barn (now the Rabbit Barn) built, was a member of the fair foundation committee that built the Pratt Pavilion, and helped with two milkshake barns, including the one currently in use.
Lexie Miller, the 2026 Miss Ohio, was invited by State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari to sing the national anthem at the Wood County Fair. The 2024 graduate of the University of Akron is currently a registered nurse in the cardiac ICU at a Columbus hospital. She will represent Ohio when she competes in the Miss America pageant on Aug. 28.
