Miss Ford Co. to compete in Springfield

(Image by Vivid Studios)

Miss Ford County 2025, Charley Ulrich, will compete in the 2026 Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs State Queen Pageant at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, Illinois.  The dates for the competition are Thursday, January 15 through Sunday, January 18, 2026.

Charley will compete with 74 other County Fair Queens for the Miss Illinois County Fair Queen 2026 title. The contestants will be judged on personal interview, stage presence, beauty of face and physical condition, and speech and communication skills.

Personal interviews are conducted off-stage on Friday.  Miss Ford County will officially compete on stage as Contestant #43 in the Saturday afternoon preliminaries beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Ruby/Diamond room on the second floor of the Crowne Plaza.  The preliminaries are open to the public with a $25 admittance charge, and children under 10 are free.

Finals will be held on Sunday evening at 4:00 p.m. in conjunction with the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs Annual Banquet.  Fifteen finalists will be chosen then to compete for the Miss Illinois County Fair Queen title.

Charley is the 19-year-old daughter of Chuck and Sarah Ulrich.  She is a 2025 graduate of Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. Charley currently attends Parkland Community College. Charley hopes to obtain an Associate’s Degree in Communications with hopes to work for a national sports team in their media department.