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Three Brown County girls are seeking the crown of the Brown County Fair Association. Pictured above are (from left to right) Emily Brown of Zephyr, Mattie Cowdery of Blanket and Elizabeth Langley of Brownwood.
These contestants will have to work hard to prove themselves on five levels: Membership Sales, Poise & Appearance, Personality, Public Speaking, and their participation in the Youth Fair which will be held January 5-10, 2015.
Membership sales by the Youth Fair Queen competition is the main fundraiser for the Brown County Fair Association and proceeds benefit the upkeep of facilities and enhancement of the premium sale.
Biographies of each contestant are below:
Emily Nicole Brown
Emily is the 16-year-old daughter of Jeannie Gotcher and the granddaughter of Rick and Barbara Gotcher. She is proudly representing Zephyr FFA in the race for Brown County Youth Fair Queen.
Born and raised in Brown County, she has been a member of 4-H and FFA since the third grade. She is currently a junior at Zephyr High school. She has shown animals, crafts, foods and clothing at the Youth Fair since she was able to start showing. She shows calves, heifers, swine, rabbits, sheep, goats, and horses on the county level.
Emily has received many buckles in homemaking as overall high point. She received showmanship buckles for goats and for speed events on her horse. She has shown horses at the state level, including breaking and training her own futurity filly that placed in the top 15 at state. She has placed several steer and goats at the major shows. She is also a junior member of the JABGA where she has shown and placed several goats at the national level. She currently raises and shows her own herd.
Emily has been very active in extracurricular activities during her high school career as well, including power lifting, cross country, basketball, track, cheerleading, livestock and horse judging and drama. In her spare time, she likes to sing at talent shows, train horses and rodeo.
Emily plans to attend college following graduation. She is very interested in marine biology and hopes to study in that field.
Mattie Cowdery
Mattie is the daughter of Susan and Robert Cowdery. She is the granddaughter of Rodney and Mary Wilson.
A junior at Blanket High School, Mattie runs cross country, track, and plays basketball and tennis. She is also in the One Act Play.
Mattie shows sheep and pigs and during her freshman and sophomore years she showed goats. She is involved in homemaking projects during the Youth Fair as well, making jelly, art and baked goods.
Mattie stated, “I am more than excited to run for Youth Fair Queen this year and I am excited to make new friends along the way.”
Elizabeth Langley
Elizabeth is 18 years-old and is a senior at Brownwood High School. She was born in Catania, Sicily, Italy. She is the daughter of Joe and Teresa Langley and was raised most of her life in Clifton before moving to Aransas Pass during the second semester of her junior year and then moving to Brownwood for her senior year. She is the oldest of five children.
Elizabeth became involved in FFA her freshman year and quickly ran for an officer position, which she has held for three years and has loved every moment of it. She has been active in FFA participating in Junior and Senior Prepared Speaking and Parliamentary Procedure along with poultry judging and tractor repair competitions, which helped her to overcome her shyness. She also shows hogs and participates in every rodeo calf scramble she can enter.
She has won many awards through FFA as well as dance, which is a passion and “major love” of hers. Elizabeth began dancing when she was just 6 years-old and is classically trained in ballet, Pointe, tap and jazz and has a desire to learn other styles of dance such as African Tribal, ballroom, modern, and lyrical dancing. She was on the Company Dance Team for Joys School of Dance in Waco, Texas.
Varsity cheerleading is another activity Elizabeth participated in when she was a student at Clifton High School. She learned many responsibilities, to be true to her word, and to be on her best behavior as a small town cheerleader and FFA officer.
When she moved to Aransas Pass, the high school did not have an FFA chapter, so she became involved in JROTC for a semester. She was promoted to supply officer and was on the Armed Drill team, running the “O-course” in just 4 minutes. She won awards for Outstanding Cadet, Color Guard, drill competition and earned her leadership cord at JROTC boot camp this past June. She was able to test, march a platoon and command a company, which allowed her to attend boot camp, which is typically for two and three year cadets. She was part of the Charlie Platoon and was a part of the Outstanding Platoon (the highest honor at boot camp).
Elizabeth is a Christian and states, “God has given me so much in my life and I thank him every day for all that I am given.” Her favorite bible verse reads, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see, Hebrews 11:1.” She explained that this verse helps her get through tough times even when she cannot see God, she is reminded to trust in Him because her life is in his hands.
Elizabeth plans to attend college and pursue a nursing degree, specializing in pediatrics. She hopes to work in a large hospital with children battling cancer and other terminal diseases.
She is excited to spend her senior year at Brownwood High School being involved in her community, dance, HOSA and FFA.
