Fox Lake queen takes Illinois county fair title

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Lake County Fair Queen and Miss Illinois County Fair Queen Brittani Schilser of Fox Lake. | Special to Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 27, 2012 9:49AM

Miss Lake County Fair beat 69 other county queens to take the state Miss Illinois County Fair Queen title.

Brittani Schisler, 21, of Fox Lake said her victory still hasn’t “set in yet at all.”

Her duties as 2012 Miss Illinois County Fair include hosting the Illinois State Fair in Springfield, the Du Quoin State Fair north of Carbondale and addressing the state Senate and House to advocate for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, according to Cathy Redshaw, state pageant director.

“I think she (Schisler) is going to be a wonderful queen. She has a great personality, a contagious smile and she seems to be full of energy. She’s just really got everything we’re looking for,” Redshaw said.

Schisler beat nine contestants for the Miss Lake County Fair Queen title last summer. She was one of 70 county queens vying for the state title and $1,000 scholarship at the Springfield pageant held Jan. 22.

“It (the state pageant) was a whole other experience. It was fast-paced, but comfortable. I just had a blast,” Schisler said.

Like the Lake County Fair pageant, the state pageant included an interview, bathing suit, formal wear and speech categories. Schisler said her speech was about the 4-H kids she met at the county fair.

“My experience this summer at my (county) fair was an amazing experience,” Schisler said.

She is a junior at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston studying speech pathology. She was the first Lake County Fair queen to win the state pageant since 2007, according to Lake County Fair Pageant Director Alyce Brownlee of Lake Villa.

“We feel like this is just unbelievable. So obviously, we have some pretty fantastic young ladies (in Lake County),” Brownlee said.

There is no national county fair title, she said, nor are there Junior or Little Miss County Fair state pageants, Brownlee said.

Brownlee estimated Schisler will travel about 14,000 miles this summer while visiting as many state fairs as possible.

There are 102 counties in Illinois, 71 of which have county fairs, according to Redshaw.

Schisler’s first official duty will be to address the state Senate and House, Brownlee said.

“That’s pretty powerful. I watched the other one (Ashley Hanson) do it in 2007. They are 21 years old and they can do this (political advocate speech) with ease — that’s pretty big,” Brownlee said.

Schisler said she is still unpacking from the state pageant and is catching up on missed homework, so she has not yet started thinking about the speech she is to make in March.

“We’re really excited and proud to have her as our representative,” Redshaw said.