Picture courtesy of Audubon County Fair Facebook page
Audubon County Fair Queen, Emily Foran, was selected to receive the Queen Alumni Award during the Iowa State Fair Queen competition on Aug. 9. The Queen Alumni Award is granted to an individual that is known as an innovative thinker, someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, expressing creativity, and encouraging others in her community to make the most of opportunities. The award is presented in memory of Julie Wolterman who was the 1993 Iowa State Fair Queen, who assisted coordinating the queen competition for 19 years. Foran is from Audubon and is the daughter of Joseph and Kristin Foran. She was actively involved in 4-H and FFA throughout school and plans to attend Colorado State University to study business, marketing, and Spanish. Foran received a $500 scholarship, a plaque from the Iowa State Fair and a bouquet of flowers from Boesen the Florist. The 2025 Iowa State Fair Queen was awarded to Riah Schrage of Grundy County, with Ashylnn Gunnerson of O’Brien County first runner-up, Annalise Buxton of Union County second runner-up and Emery Hawkins of Appanoose County for third runner-up. Kelsey Greenslade of Dallas County was presented the Outstanding Leadership Award and Alexandria Ken of Fayette County was honored with the Personality Plus award.