DANVILLE — With Tuesday’s warm weather pointing toward summer and fair season, this year’s Pork Queen and Princess were named at the Knox County Pork Council’s banquet. The event, held at the St. Luke Community Center in Danville, marked the end of the reign of the outgoing royals, Princess Amber Benedict and Queen Emily Fry, and the crowning of Chelsea Carpenter as princess and Kelli Myers as queen.
“It’s going to be a fun year,” Myers said, looking forward to the promotional work to be done on behalf of pork farms in the county.
The 18-year-old Myers, who lives in Mount Vernon, is an 11-year member of the Producers 4-H Club and has been in the Mount Vernon FFA for three years. The MVHS student is also a member in the concert and marching bands and serves on the Junior Fair Board. She is the daughter of Brian Myers and Loretta Patt.
Carpenter is a 15-year-old Fredericktown High School student from Bellville. She is a seven-year member of the Green Valley Giants 4-H Club, through which she is taking a market hog project. At FHS, she is a cheerleader, and is active in club volleyball and student council. She is the daughter of Todd and Amy Carpenter.
Fifteen-year-old Bethany Myers also competed for princess. She is a student at MVHS and a seven-year member of Producers 4-H Club, and is in her first year in the Mount Vernon FFA. She attends church, volunteers at a soup kitchen, and grows and sells produce at the Farmers Market. All three students gave speeches about the importance of pork byproducts to the world, particularly in the area of medicine, where hogs have provided such breakthroughs as transplant heart valves, skin grafts, insulin and many other medicines.
The guest speaker for the event was Jennifer Keller of the Ohio Pork Producers Council, who talked about the current importance of pork exports to hog farmers. She said that because of the international trade established under free trade agreements, U.S. pork exports have risen an average of 15 percent per year in the last decade. She said one out of every five hogs is exported, particularly to developing countries, where pork consumption is going up at a high rate.
Dan Joseph also presented a plaque to the council on behalf of the East Knox FFA, who awarded the Pork Council the Honorary Chapter Degree Award.
Food for the meal was catered by Penny Blubaugh, including a pork roast and glazed ham balls. Assorted fixings and pies for dessert were on the menu, too. Elaine Benedict gave the invocation, and door prizes were given away to the 50 people in attendance. The banquet committee included Wendy Fry, Aileen Spearman and Jill Spearman.
