ASHLAND — Barbara Reiter and Dale Black are royalty.
The duo won titles as the Ashland County Fair’s senior queen and king, respectively, Tuesday afternoon.
Reiter is an 83-year-old at the Good Shepherd, and Black is a 97-year-old at Kingston of Ashland. The pair, along with other contestants, sat through interviews before receiving their titles from Mayor Matt Miller and State Rep. Melanie Miller.
Interview questions asked contestants to crack their best jokes, best advice and to share fun facts about themselves.
Black sang a rendition of “Amazing Grace” onstage with junior fair king Nicholas Cartwright as contestants waited to see who would wear the crowns. The audience joined them.
Mary Ann Mowry, a 94-year-old at Brethren Care Village, earned runner-up for senior queen. Jocelyn Jones, 77, of Kingston of Ashland, rounded out the court on the queen side.
On the king side, Paul Lapp of Lutheran Village received runner-up. Ron Bolton, of Brethren Care, was the third member of the royal court.
In order for seniors to be eligible for the competition, according to Melanie Miller, the assisted living home resident must be at least 62 years old. They also can’t have won the crown in the prior two years.
Crowning a queen
Reiter, the senior fair queen, hails from Mansfield. She used to work as a medical transcriptionist and office manager. She has a large family — three children, eight grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Reiter said when she came to compete for the fair queen, she wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. But after winning the crown, she described the experience as “absolutely amazing.”
Her favorite part was listening to other peoples’ stories.
Reiter’s journey at this year’s fair isn’t over. She’ll return for Ladies’ Day Wednesday.
“I’ll see what I can see and just enjoy the day,” Reiter said.
A true king
Black, the fair’s king, was born in 1927 in Butler. He’s a Korean War veteran and worked for 30 years in the shipping department of the pottery plant in Perrysville. He also has worked as a stand-up comedian.
Black started his interview by telling a joke to Melanie Miller and the crowd.
He said he first came to the event two years ago and always likes to go onstage. He thought it would be fun to compete.
Black said he worried only a couple short months ago he couldn’t attend the fair. He said he’d been feeling weak, but his children and other people around him at Kingston of Ashland helped and supported him.
For Black, the advice he hopes to impart is to be good to people.
“Always try to be good to everybody,” Black said. “Don’t complain too much about things.”
