Hello from the 2024 PA State Fair Queen!
My name is Erica Teagarden and I am the 20-year-old daughter of Chad and Bobbie Jo Teagarden of Claysville, Washington County. I have lived on my family’s multi-generational farm for the past six years and spent most of my childhood there raising animals with my two brothers and sister. We started raising and showing dairy heifers and eventually got into market lambs, goats, hogs, and steers.
I was a member of the West Alexander Ag 4-H club and had the opportunity to serve a year as President. Although I enjoyed 4-H, my passion was in FFA. I attended McGuffey High School and was a member of the McGuffey FFA chapter. During my time in FFA, I had many opportunities to expand my leadership and career readiness skills and overall create so many connections across the organization. I spent four years as an officer and was Reporter, Treasurer, and President. I loved to do every career and leadership development event that I could. This included vet skills, livestock judging, milk evaluation, floriculture, and my favorite, public speaking.
In FFA, I also found my passion for wanting to advocate and educate others on the agricultural industry. Because of my time in FFA and the people that I met, I am now at Penn State studying agricultural and extension education with hopes of becoming a high school ag teacher upon graduation.
My family has always been involved in our local fairs. When my mom was younger, my great-grandparents would take her, along with her aunts and uncles, to show dairy cattle around Washington and surrounding counties. Even before I was born, my family knew that fairs would be a big part of my life. I have been attending Pennsylvania fairs since I was just a few months old. The first fair I attended was the Jacktown Fair, in Greene County. At just five months old, I got to ride the merry-go-round with my dad.
In Washington County we have two fairs, The Washington County Agricultural Fair and The West Alexander Fair. The first memories that I have of the Washington County Fair are with my grandfather when I was about four or five. He would take me to the fair, let me ride all the rides, and of course, see the animals. It wasn’t until I was nine that I began showing at the fair and became more involved in other events, which eventually led me to run for fair queen.
As for the West Alex Fair, that is a different story. I have only missed one year of the fair in the last 20 years and that is because it was canceled in 2020. I grew up just a mile up the road and my mom was a vendor there. I spent countless hours from Labor Day to Saturday running around the fairgrounds. Although I was never West Alexander Fair Queen, a big part of me will always be with that fair. So many of my fondest memories are of these fairs and the people that they have brought into my life.
In recent years, I have gotten to visit some other fairs around the state and I am excited to add more to my list during the year ahead of me. I owe a lot to the people who have supported my journey not only as fair queen but also just in life. I know I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them. First, my fair and especially my fair queen coordinator, Denise, have allowed me to have this wonderful opportunity. My mom and dad have always pushed me to do my best and been there for me even if they didn’t know what was going on. My ag teachers have helped me get outside my comfort zone and transform from a young and shy girl to who I am now. My friends and family have always been beside me giving advice where they can and just showing their support in every way possible. It has been several weeks since I was crowned, and sometimes, I am still in utter disbelief. This has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I would tell anyone who gave me the opportunity that I was going to be the PA State Fair Queen one day and now that I am here, I am excited to see where it takes me. Â
Yours truly,Â
Erica TeagardenÂ