COTTONWOOD – As fairs, rodeos, and other summer events ramp up, people from all over the county come to experience everything these events have to offer. For some, the highlight is the parades, moving slowly down the main streets. One aspect of most fairs, including the Idaho County Fair in Cottonwood, is royalty, and the young women who represent the community they serve.
16-year-old Molly Fowler is this year’s second princess for the Idaho County Fair, and alongside her parents, Bo and Ammerae Fowler, has spent the better part of a year working with the other royalty members, building confidence and learning teamwork and compromise along the way.
“Overall, it’s a great chance to meet new people in the community, and then once you’re in royalty, it’s a great way to give back to the community as well,” said Ammerae.
Molly is the youngest of five children; Bethani, Isaiah, Meghan, and Brehanna, and is the first out of her siblings to be a part of any fair royalty. Molly explained that she first got into the Idaho County Fair and the 4-H program due to seeing her friends participate, and she has stuck with it for the last five years, starting with cake making and progressing to animals, such as rabbits.
“I saw my friends doing 4-H and stuff, and it seemed fun with all the animals and stuff, so I tried it out,” said Molly.
After her older sister Brehanna did not make it into royalty after trying out, Molly decided that she would give it a shot, and after a long application process, made it into this year’s royalty court. For young women who want to apply, they must fill out a paper application which is handed out by that year’s princesses and queens, attend a luncheon to meet other applicants, and then an interview with judges, and a prepared speech.
This process takes the better part of a month from the day applications are due to the interview and speech day and then results are sealed until the last day of the Idaho County Fair.
“I feel like memorizing the speech was really hard. I was nervous about the interview, but it was really easy because I was basically just having a conversation with people, but memorizing the speech was definitely the hardest,” said Molly.
For Bo and Ammerae, who moved their family to Cottonwood in 2019, the process of trying out for royalty was a little stressful, but they have enjoyed seeing their daughter interact with the little kids and seeing her confidence build.
“I think that the main thing for me is not just with her, but with all of them [royalty members], watching them interact with the little kids. It’s more than the little kid’s faces, you can see extreme joy in the princesses’ and queen’s faces as well,” said Bo.
“My favorite part is not necessarily the royalty as much as she specifically was an extremely, extremely shy child, to the point where she didn’t even want birthday parties because she didn’t like the attention on her and so watching her go through this whole process and build confidence has been rewarding to me,” said Ammerae.
For the Fowlers, they have already participated in 12 parades since Molly became 2nd princess last August and only have one weekend off from the months of June to September this year. Despite the time commitment, the Fowlers say that it is not the hardest part of being a princess in the Idaho County Fair, but the details of putting together the floats and actually doing the parades are the hardest part.
“You learn a lot about teamwork and compromise and unity,” said Ammerae.
“Gives them a chance to work on communication skills,” said Bo.
The royalty board creates the theme of the fair each year, with this year’s theme centered around Toy Story, “You’ve got a friend at the Idaho County Fair.”
On top of the time commitment for this role as a princess in a county fair, the Fowlers all have full-time jobs, and Molly is involved in sports at her high school, Prairie High School, where she will be a junior next year. Bo works in finance at St. Mary’s Health, Ammerae is a customer coordinator for a software company, and Molly works for the Forest Service.
“[It takes a lot of time], especially when everyone’s in sports, and different sports, because we [royalty members] were all in different sports at the time,” said Molly.
But for the Fowlers, seeing the little girls at the parades and tea parties light up when the royalty float comes by makes the entire process worth it. It’s what made Molly want to sign up, and it is what inspires the next generation of royalty to follow in her path.
“The little girls at the parades make it so worth it when you have to get up early and make it to someplace, set up a float, and do all that,” said Ammerae.
For young women who are looking to try out for a royalty position this year or next, the Fowlers explained that you have to be open-minded, and to be ready for the big commitment, but to try it.
“Just try it. You definitely have to go into it open-minded and be ready for the big commitment, but it’s a lot of fun to be able to meet a bunch of new people and travel,” said Molly.
The Idaho County Fair will be held August 19-22 at the Cottonwood Fair Grounds, located at 1500 King Street in Cottonwood, Idaho. To learn more about the Idaho County Fair, visit https://idahocountyfair.org/.