Friends and Neighbors: Cross, Klinkhammer excited about duties at county fair

It has been a busy time for the Kimball Banner County Fair royalty.

Kimball PRCA Rodeo Queen Paige Cross, 17, of Banner County, and Lacey Klinkhammer, 14, of Kimball, were chosen last September as the royalty for 2015.

Tryouts for the honor included an interview, a speech, horsemanship pattern and they were judged on their appearance.

"We've been running around quite a bit," Cross said. "We go to different rodeos, parades and events throughout the year and promote the Kimball County fair and rodeo."

Cross said that she and Klinkhammer have participated in many parades, but they also carry flags, meet and greet people, and sign autographs.

They have traveled to Pine Bluffs, Scottsbluff, Crawford and even Estes Park, Colo., to ride in parades.

"We were going to go to Cheyenne Frontier Days, but there was an equine virus, so we didn't want to take our horses there," Cross said.

Cross, a Banner County resident, has participated in Nebraska high school rodeo since her freshman year. She has been a member of 4-H since childhood and has been an FFA member for four years as well.

"I have rodeoed off and on since I was eight," Cross said.

Klinkhammer, a five-year 4-H member, will join FFA this year as an incoming freshman at Kimball High School.

Klinkhammer said the most enjoyable aspects of fair is seeing all her friends in one place, while Cross enjoys the rodeo. They do agree that the gymkhana is also a highlight.

"It is something anybody can participate in," Cross said.

Klinkhammer explained that gymkhana includes barrels and poles, as well as a flag race and a pee-wee entry for the event.

"We have musical tires, which is like musical chairs, but more challenging," Cross said.

The challenges are keeping calm throughout fair week. Not only do the ladies participate in many events as part of their royalty duties, but they also exhibit horses, steer and swine at the fair.

"I have two pigs this year and I have two steers and horses. Keeping track is hard," Klinkhammer said. "Not getting frustrated with your parents is probably the hardest thing."

"Making sure you get to everything on time," Cross said. "It is really chaotic. I was going to bring a lamb, too, but decided not to. I usually show dogs, too, but I just decided I was going to take it easy this year."

Though this is her senior year in high school, Cross plans to exhibit at fair next year as well since she is eligible to do so for two more years.

"It's hard not to be at fair," Klinkhammer said. "Even my sister comes back and enjoys it. Everybody comes."

Cross said that both she and Klinkhammer have experienced fair since long before they were able to participate, as they both had older siblings that were in fair before they were.

As queen and princess, the young ladies are expected to hand out ribbons for winning fair exhibits. They must be in their official attire to do so, regardless of what they may be doing with their own fair exhibits.

"Last year I was princess, and I showed my steer and then instantly I had to change back into my clean stuff and I had to be in my attire for everything else," Cross said.

Cross's favorite part of being royalty is the younger kids.

"She has a white horse," Klinkhammer said. "So all the little kids are like, 'Look at the white one!'"

Cross said that during one parade as a kid petted her horse, she became surrounded by children. While she was assured that her horse was fine with it, the parade went on without her.

"At the ranch rodeo there were a bunch of kids surrounding us, reaching over the fence to pet them," Klinkhammer said.

Cross said that though she has tried three horses for her queen duties, she prefers her white horse for her gentle, laid-back nature.

"You don't really want to push the boundaries though," Cross said. "At Trail Days all the kids that saw my horse swarmed me asking if they could ride my horse, so I had little kids riding my horse for like an hour."

"It's hard to say no to them," Klinkhammer added. "If you let one of them do it, there will be like 30."

Though the schedule is grueling, both ladies enjoy it fully and are happy they participate fully in fair and hope to see everyone enjoying fair as they do.

As of press time, five hopefuls have turned applications in to the extension office to compete for the next Kimball PRCA Rodeo Queen and Princess titles.