Miss Lake County Fair Crowned

Third time is a charm for 20-year-old Brittani Schisler of Fox Lake. The junior at Eastern Illinois University was crowned Miss Lake County Fair 2011 on Tuesday night at the fairgrounds.

“I need to pinch myself,” said Schisler. “The hours of speech preparation that I put into this, picking out my clothes, my shoes … all my hard work has finally paid off.”

This is her third year running for the title of fair queen. While Schisler actually used some of her speech material from past pageants, this year there was one key factor in her winning the crown.

“I just took a deep breath and relaxed. I just realized I needed to do the best I can do and that had to be good enough.”

“She’s a lot more relaxed on stage this time,” noted boyfriend Martin Farmer, who cheered from the audience.

Mom Lorin Buchta teared up while watching her daughter accept congratulations from the stage. “She just wanted this so bad,” she said.

Buchta says she is looking forward to the new opportunities and experiences that will come for her daughter. “This is just so awesome,” she said. “She’s worked really hard for this and we’re thrilled for her.”

This isn’t Brittani’s first crown. She was Junior Miss Fox Lake in 2002 and Miss Grant Township in 2008. Now, as Miss Lake County Fair, she will go to the state fair queen competition in January, where she will compete against almost 70 other queens to win the crown and represent Illinois.

“There is a lot of competition in these pageants. These are high-quality girls who are polished, have high goals and a great networking system,” says Lake County Fair Pageant Director Alyce Brownlee. “Brittani is a lovely young lady and her efforts have really come forward. She’s very mature and responsible.”

Schisler is studying speech pathology at EIU. She will receive a $2,000 scholarship at the end of her reign next summer. She works at the McHenry Lock and Dam and volunteers at a local hospital weekly.

The first runner-up for the Miss Lake County Fair Queen was Meghan Opolka of Antioch and a sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa. Opolka also was named Miss Congeniality.

Second runner-up was Danielle Rizzo, a junior at Indiana University.

Other finalists included Corrine Clark, a junior at Drake University, and Hayley Sherwood, a senior at Lakes Community High School.

Medals were given to nonfinalists for their high scores in various categories.

Kathleen Hunt received a medal for scoring highest in the speech and communication category. Courtney Marcusson received a medal for her interview, Megan Barrera received a medal in the swimsuit competition and Grace Spagna received an award for her high score in stage presence.

The Junior Miss Lake County Fair 2011 and the Little Miss Lake County Fair 2011 will be crowned at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the main stage of the Lake County Fairgrounds.