More than a crown: Indiana State Fair Queen hopes to inspire young fairgoers to dream big

Seeing the glittering crown and sash of Miss Indiana State Fair is always exciting, but many don't realize being queen comes with a laundry list of responsibilities.

Alyssa McKillip, 20, a 10-year 4-H member, was crowned Miss Wabash County back in 2020, qualifying her for the 2021 Miss Indiana State Fair pageant. However, due to the pandemic, the pageant was canceled and she wasn’t able to compete for the title until January, McKillip said.

What is typically a three-day competition had been crammed into one day of interviews, speeches and professional- and formal-wear modeling, McKillip said. Some of the 2020 county fair queens competed with all of the 2021 county fair queens, totaling about 105 contestants. However, by the end of the day, McKillip, a sophomore in psychology at Butler University, was crowned Miss Indiana State Fair.

The Indiana State Fair queen represents Indiana agriculture from livestock, food, culture and this year’s theme of “Celebrating Indiana's Automotive Excellence,” McKillip said. In addition to promoting the fair, she attends daily events, judges contests and rides in parades.

“This is one of the highest goals I ever had for myself,” she said, “and I am very happy and blessed to be able to represent the fair this year, and the state.”

Despite how busy she would be traveling to 45 different county fairs around the state, McKillip said she was excited about the opportunity to promote the State Fair and enjoy every part of being queen.

“I just want to be, ultimately, that one that makes everyone feel welcome,” McKillip said, “and makes everyone feel invited to a place that I personally have made so many memories at over the years.”

From fair exhibitor to fair queen

When McKillip was young, she met the 2013 Miss Indiana State Fair, Mariah (Huff) Eggersman, of Jackson County. She said many young girls dream about being a princess, and seeing the crown and pretty dress Eggersman wore was enough for her.

“I knew that when I was old enough to compete in the Wabash County pageant that I certainly wanted to do that,” she said, “just to represent my own fair and be someone that little girls like I once was, could look up to.”

Bobbi Bates, queen pageant coordinator and former Wabash County Fair queen, said she's impressed with McKillip, from her pageant interviews to how she carries herself and to how easily she interacts with guests.

“Some of our state fair queens have not spent a lot of time here and for some, it's a second home, which for Alyssa, I know that it is,” Bates said. “It meant a great deal to her to win because of her background at the State Fair.”

As livestock exhibitors, McKillip and her family have always been frequent State Fair visitors. McKillip and her mom both showed pigs through 4-H when they were younger, and now her brother — who is still in high school — shows, she said.

“I did walk through the (swine) barn today,” McKillip said. She had been wearing a floor-length, gray velvet dress with white flowery embroidery and a pair of sandals along with her Miss Indiana State Fair sash and crown.

This particular dress is just one of many McKillip has worn at the fair. All of her outfits for a given week are expertly planned in advance — “on a sticky note,” she said — and then sent to her mother, Toni McKillip, who makes sure everything is spot, stain, tear and wrinkle-free for each day of the fair.

“I’ve steamed a lot of gowns,” Toni McKillip said. “Because it's the little things.”

However, dressing up for the State Fair isn't always practical, and Toni McKillip said she plans several backup options in case of heat or rain or if something gets dirty. At one of the county fairs, Toni McKillip said Alyssa chose to wear a romper instead of a dress due to the windy weather, but ended up having to change into a dress for the steer show anyway.

"She didn't want to wear a dress because she didn't want to walk around and hold the dress down the whole time," she said, "and they made her change because they wanted her in a dress with cowboy boots."

Stopping for selfies and making fairgoers feel welcome

A hand-stitched satin sash and a silvery tiara that glitters in the sunlight are a symbol, drawing fairgoers to her. On any given day, McKillip estimated she takes anywhere from 50 to 100 photos with guests.

Toni McKillip said the entire experience has felt surreal. On a recent afternoon, as Alyssa made her way from the Ice Cream Crank to the Communication Building, every trolley driver honked and waved to her. Little girls stopped in their tracks, staring wide-eyed at Alyssa with their mouths open wide as they wait for her to notice them so they can ask for pictures, Toni McKillip said. It's these moments she isn't used to as a former livestock exhibitor.

“It's very different to see it on the other side as being her as, like, the queen's mom," Toni McKillip said. "I feel like a celebrity."

Although McKillip can barely walk 50 feet on the fairgrounds without someone waving to, congratulating her or asking for a photo — she always says yes and with a beaming smile — she said her job is more than just parades and taking photos with guests.

“People don't know," Toni McKillip said. "They think she goes around in barns and hands out ribbons.”

On the opening day of the fair, McKillip had breakfast with Gov. Eric Holcomb and Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and served on a panel of judges who sampled the Taste of the Fair. (She awarded glowing reviews to the pickle pizza and strongly recommends the Hot Diggity Corn Dog.)

McKillip peruses the fairgrounds with a different chaperone each day. Sometimes she's accompanied by mom and dad or her aunt. On other days, she walks around with Bates, members of her court, such as second runner-up and Miss Congeniality Kalyn Melham, or former state fair queens such as 2014 Miss Indiana State Fair Alyssa Burns.

"I have always loved talking with people and getting to know people and trying to be as helpful and important as I can in the community," Melham, 21, said, "and having a leadership position like that is a really wonderful opportunity to do so."

Melham served as the 2021 Delaware County Fair Queen. However, due to the circumstances the pandemic placed on the pageant, Melham said her duties extended into the Indiana State Fair as a member of McKillip's court.

Being able to walk the fairgrounds with McKillip and the other ladies on the court has been a wonderful and fun experience, she said. Coming to the State Fair all together for a day as queens was more enjoyable than being here alone, as Melham said they got to celebrate each other's accomplishments while representing the State Fair.

"As a member of the court, it was a true honor to be able to walk around with Alyssa and kind of see what it's like to be an Indiana State Fair queen," Melham said.

So far this summer, McKillip has helped judge the USA Mullet Championship, the cat show cage decorating contest and King Arthur youth cookie decorating contest. She's also given opening and closing remarks at the Cheer competition and participated in the Celebrity Milking Contest.

“It's really neat for me to see the exhibitors get all excited,” McKillip said. “I get very happy for them and I don't even have to know them, but just to know that they put in all their work and they get to watch that pay off. It's really neat to see.”

Inspiring a younger generation

McKillip said her favorite part about being Miss Indiana State Fair is interacting with the kids and making lasting memories with them.

“Like Alyssa said, she was young, she met a State Fair queen, and that really stuck with her,” Bates said. “My hope is that she can create that impression for our guests, particularly the younger ones.”

McKillip knows the kids she interacts with only see the crown and sash. They don't understand the behind-the-scenes, what she does and what she represents as fair queen, she said. However, McKillip hopes those memories stick with them and they continue to come back to the fair year after year.

“I always hope after meeting all these little girls, there's at least a couple that are like me,” she said. “I just want to make somebody's day, to inspire that little girl or that little boy or even the adult to just go for it and aim high and never give up on something that you're passionate about.”

A future in service of others

McKillip is on a pre-med track and hopes to someday work with women and children, providing them with necessary health care and comfort during times of need.

“I've always had my heart set on pediatric oncology,” she said. “That's definitely one of my very top specialties that I'm interested in. I also really love OBGYN to kind of get that balance between mom and baby.”

Toni McKillip said she can’t think of a time — except for maybe fifth grade, when she wanted to be a teacher — when pediatric oncology wasn’t something she knew Alyssa wanted to do. Her daughter's passion for raising awareness and helping children was apparent from the start and has continued to push her in the direction of medicine.

McKillip said she started her own fundraising page, Fill the Wagon, through the Riley Hospital for Children where she was able to raise $10,090 for Riley Children's Foundation through a charity event in February of 2020.

McKillip still has a few weeks of the fair left — which gives her plenty of time to perfect her queen wave — and many events to look forward to. She also has post-fair community celebrations celebrating her reign and will then return to crown next year’s queen. For now, she's taking it all in.

“I milked a goat in Vigo County and I did not know a clue what I was doing,” she said. Although McKillip said the goat ended up kicking the bucket and getting milk all over her blue and white floral sundress, she laughed at the memory.

“I had fun with it and I think I did OK," she said. "I think I did a good job."

Contact IndyStar reporter Chloe McGowan at CWilkersonMcGowan@gannett.com. Follow her Twitter: @chloe_mcgowanxx.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State Fair 2022: Meet Alyssa McKillip, this year's fair queen