Queen says kissing a frog is not any better the second time around
Contemplating one of her duties as queen of the Wayne County 4-H Fair, Zoe Brock kept her composure but admitted that kissing a frog would not be something she could really enjoy.
“I was Pre-Teen Queen back in 2016 and I had to do it then,” she said. “It doesn’t get easier.”
Nonetheless, when Geraldine Bond called her front and center at Sunday’s frog-jumping contest, Zoe summoned her courage – and the company of her queenly court – pursed her lips and planted a kiss on a frog. The cold-blooded amphibian didn’t seem impressed and Zoe’s face showed her distaste for the moment.
While kisses from the queen and her princesses produced no fairy-tale handsome prince, Zoe’s frog did jump more than 8 feet in the contest, a just-for-fun highlight to a weather-perfect afternoon on the fair’s second day.
Surrounded by stuffed frog toys of many sizes and shapes, Bond seemed to be in her element. She said the contest is something dreamed up a few years ago by her daughter, Fair Board President Sandy House. Bond has been collecting frogs for years and keeps looking for more of them to give away at the fair.
Serving as emcee, House said the contest is all in fun: prizes include three recycled trophies and some of her mother’s frogs. By the way, the frogs are collected the night before and released back into the same pond after the contest.
The fair continues until Saturday, a mixture of 4-H projects – both static displays and moving livestock – and carnival rides, grandstand and free shows, food, Friday night’s fireworks show and lots else.
Queen Zoe, 17 and a senior at Richmond High School, perhaps summed it up. She plays on the school’s varsity golf team and participates in 4-H photography as a member of the Boston Clever Clovers. She is also the founder of Sisterhood FELC, a group of high school girls who want a deeper connection with other Christian girls.
She says the fair is “definitely a different world” than the rest of her life. She’s enjoying serving with the rest of her court.
And despite having to kiss a frog in front of a crowd, “I’m having a blast at the fair.”