Smithfield native crowned Fayette County Fair queen
The fourth time was the charm for Caroline Smith.
The reigning Fayette County Fair Princess moved to the next level Thursday night, when she was crowned as the 2026 Fair Queen.
Smith, 20, of Smithfield, had participated in the pageant the last three years. She encouraged other girls to participate in the competition that she said helped build her character and turned a formerly shy person into a public speaker.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get up and say that speech like I just did three years ago,” she said. “That just wouldn’t have been possible … It’s given me so much confidence in my ability to talk to people and talk in front of the people, and so just because of that, it’s all worth it.”
Olivia Eicher was named this year’s Princess, while Lydia Geary won for Congeniality.
Smith received her tiara and sash from 2025 Queen Olivia Love, in a moment that left neither of them dry-eyed.
The two had become close over the past year. Their friendship also brought Love to tears in her farewell speech, as she reflected on the fellow royalty “telling me exactly how it is, making me laugh to the point I almost cry.”
“It’s amazing because I was princess, so I got to be crowned by my queen,” said Love, who had been Princess under 2024 Queen Haylee Bill. “So getting to do that for my princess was just one of the most special moments ever.”
As Smith heard her name called Thursday night, she thought, “My hard work paid off.”
“I got to be with Olivia all of last year as her princess, and so I really got to see what it was all about: teaching, promoting agriculture, learning more about agriculture for myself as well,” she said. “So just as soon as I heard my name, I was just so immediately proud of myself and my hard work.”
The eight contestants each had to deliver a speech on why people should attend the Fayette County Fair, as well as answer an impromptu question about the first thing at the fair they’d take state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.
Smith told the crowd to close their eyes as she walked them through a tableau of baby pigs in costumes, living statues, intricate handcarved wooden chess seats in the home ec building, and “smiling until your face hurts.”
Her destination for Redding was the livestock barn — on show day, to see the hard work the youth put into their animals.
“You get to see how much they care about their animals, and then hopefully that makes him think of how great Fayette County Fair is for the future of our agriculture,” she said.
Before Thursday’s winner was announced, the fair brought back queens from throughout the 40-year history of the pageant Thursday night, dating back to 1988 Queen Gretchen Grubbs Belan.
They each shared a memorable fact about that year’s fair — new innovations, or up-and-coming artists on the brink of stardom.
For 1998 Queen Trisha Gallagher Fronczek, it was both — the first year of the Family Fun Night, and the year she got to eat dinner with Trace Adkins and see Kenny Chesney play during his last year on the fair circuit.
The 1989 fair was where Queen Andrea Keller Hibbs met a boy at the pig show who has become her husband of 35 years.
It’s too early to say what the defining feature of the 2026 fair. But after her coronation, Smith was determined to savor every moment.
“I’m so excited to spend the next 10 days with her and build this princess/queen bond with her and just take it all in,” she said.
Especially the livestock shows.
“I love handing out ribbons to the kids,” she said.
The Smithfield native attends West Virginia University, where she is majoring in soil and water sciences.
As princess, she got to lead agriculture classes for children about beef cattle; she’s looking forward to resuming that over the next year.
The speaking abilities Smith has honed over her years in the pageant will again get put to use in one of her favorite activities — agriculture classes for children, where she gets to teach about the beef cattle that fill their bellies.
And she gets to speak at dinners around the area, telling people about where their food comes from and how important farmers are to the local community and its economy.
“I love to just inform people and also learn for myself through these dinners, through speaking,” Smith said.