Longest-reigning Fair Court

Brittley Bowers

Fair Queen Brittley Bowers will be attending at Texas A&M University and is the daughter of Chip and Audri Bowers.

Ella Sanchez

First Duchess Ella Sanchez will be attending McMurry University in Abilene and is the daughter of Materno and Suzanna Sanchez.

Taylor DeLong

Second Duchess Taylor DeLong will be attending Texas Tech University and is the daughter of Lee and Sherrie DeLong.

Lauren Beyer

Third Duchess Lauren Beyer will be attending Texas A&M University. She is the daughter of Barry and Heather Beyer.

Longest-reigning Fair Court

Fair queen, duchesses make most out of historic year.

Since a global pandemic hindered the regular responsibilities of the 132nd Gillespie County Fairs & Festivals Association Queen’s Court last year, the young ladies will continue their reign for the 133rd fair.

The returning court, consisting of Queen Brittley Bowers, First Duchess Ella Sanchez, Second Duchess Taylor DeLong and Third Duchess Lauren Beyer, will participate in all the aspects of their roles they missed out on last year.

TWO YEARS

Although the court participated in the horse races and a downsized fair last year, they missed out on some of the bigger events.

Bowers said it’s been almost two years now since they were crowned.

“I’ve definitely grown up a bit” since I was first inducted into the court as a junior at Fredericksburg High School, Beyer said.

Even though their reign last year started out with the court’s typical duties, the coronavirus pandemic forced them to change how they represented Gillespie County.

“We were working on our float and getting our dresses and then whenever COVID-19 hit and everything stopped,” Bowers said.

The pandemic limited the events the court could be a part of as well as the number of people that could be in attendance.

“We were able to do smaller events, but not the fair, the Night in Old Fredericksburg or parades,” Sanchez said.

SECOND CHANCE

Because of these changes, directors from the Gillespie County Fairs & Festivals Association asked the court to reprise their roles for the 133rd year of the fair.

“Then, our directors sat down with us last summer, and they were like, ‘We want y’all to carry on another reign just because y’all never got the experience that you deserved,” Bowers said.

Bowers said she was excited by the opportunity to return and thankful for the decision the association made, but also curious as to how it would all play out.

“We were just thankful that they wanted to let us continue on,” Bowers said.

The court was grateful for the opportunity to represent their county again.

“I would just like to thank all of the people that work for the Gillespie County Fair Association because they’ve tried so hard, over these past couple of years just to keep the fair going throughout these trying times,” Beyer said.

“I’m just happy that this year we get to go to parades and be representing the county.”

COVID-19 COURT

Adding another year onto the court’s reign, however, gave them a second chance, but also a unique title.

“We call ourselves ‘The Longest Reigning Fair Court,’ so we have that title,” Bowers said. “I’m also called the COVID-19 queen a lot.”

Sanchez says she really enjoys being on the fair court, so the additional year tacked on to her reign as duchess was a pleasant surprise.

“It’s definitely a different experience than the other courts, but it’s also a nice experience,” Sanchez said.

This year, the court is participating in parades with the float they built over a year ago.

“It’s been nice because we obviously didn’t get to do much last year. But this year, we took out our float, and it was just nice,” Sanchez said.

Beyer said when they prepped the float to be a part of the Stonewall Peach JAMboree parade, it was covered in dust.

“We originally put purple paper there, now it’s pink,” Beyer said.

One added benefit to the extended reign, the court said, is the fact that the experience strengthened their friendships with each other.

“We’re friends outside the court so it’s cool to see how we’ve become so close over the last couple of years just spending a lot of time together like building the parade float.”

PROCESS

Unlike many of their predecessors, the 133rd court is made up of Fredericksburg High School graduates. Since they started their reign, they graduated and made plans to start college at the end of this summer.

Beyer will attend Mays Business School of Texas A&M University. Bowers is also continuing her education at Texas A&M University.

Sanchez will attend McMurry University in Abilene and DeLong is going to Texas Tech University.