Opening day of the West Lampeter Community Fair was a pretty good day for Laura Brenner.

Her sheep — the first two she ever owned and entered in a competition — won first and second place in their weight class Wednesday morning. And that evening, she was picked from a field of 14 contestants as queen of the long-running fair.

"I'm a little overwhelmed," Brenner, wearing her new tiara and with tears running down her cheeks, said moments after the competition ended.

The Lampeter-Strasburg High School senior is the daughter of Michael and Elaine Brenner of West Lampeter Township. She plans to put her $500 scholarship prize to use at a Pennsylvania university, where she wants to major in political science and prepare for a career in politics.

A longtime volunteer at the West Lampeter fair, Brenner said she has been involved in everything from setup to cleanup and manning food stands.

She decided to try her hand at raising sheep after judging them with her FFA chapter last year.

"I fell in love with it and wanted to get more involved," she said. So she bought two lambs and raised them at a nearby farm, visiting them at least twice a day to keep them well-fed and groomed.

"They did phenomenal this year," Brenner said. "I'm very proud of them."

Whipper and Snapper, both 8 months old, placed first and second among lightweight lambs, she said. She also placed second in second-year showmanship.

This is Brenner's second try for queen, and she said she thinks her experience in 2008 helped her prepare for the public speaking.

But she felt more confident in her sheep, she said. "I've spent months working with them. I have more trouble having confidence in myself."

Runner-up in the queen contest was Megan Fitzgerald. She will receive a $250 scholarship.

Each of the 14 contestants attends Lampeter-Strasburg High School and had already passed an initial essay contest to qualify for the competition. On Wednesday, each introduced herself to the crowd and answered a random question about the fair before judges narrowed the field to five finalists.

Criteria for judging included appearance, poise, posture, composure, mannerisms, voice and diction.

Besides Brenner and Fitgerald, finalists were Emily Addis, Alyssia Whalen and Elise Holzbauer.

Also competing for the title Wednesday were Katherine Fesen, Melissa Christie, Jenna Mitchell, Emily Milanak, Aubrey Detzel, Chelsey Ott, Brittany Horn, Amanda Zahm and Kelsey Robinson.

Brenner will represent L-S at the state fair contest in January.

The fair continues through the end of the week. Scheduled highlights include:

Today — 9 a.m., FFA judging; 11 a.m., dairy judging; 1 p.m., log sawing and bale throwing contests; 5 p.m., soup cook-off; 6 p.m., baby parade, L-S marching band concert; 7 p.m., pig catching contest; 7:30 p.m., dairy beef judging.

Friday — 9 a.m. elementary school tours; 10:30 a.m., horse show; 6 p.m., spinning and weaving demonstration, youth encouragement awards; 6:30 p.m., livestock sale, calf roping contest.

Saturday — 6 a.m., cleanup; 6 p.m., produce auction.

Results
Here are the results of Wednesday morning's goat show:

Lightweight — first, Kenny H. Barley; second, Butch Conver.

Middleweight — first, Atalie Faith Winters; second, Kaitlin Renee Harrington.

Heavyweight — first, Kenny H. Barley; second, Atalie Faith Winters.

Grand champion — Atalie Faith Winters; reserve grand, Kenny H. Barley.

Goat showmanship — first, Atalie Faith Winters; second, Kaitlin Harrington.

Here are the results of the 4-H hog show:

Lightweight — first, Amber Winters; second, Jordan Martin.

Lightweight champion — Amber Winters.

Mediumweight, class 2A — first, Ben Welk; second, Jordan Hoover.

Mediumweight, class 2B — first, Atalie Winters; second, Tyler Hess.

Mediumweight champion — Atalie Winters.

Light heavyweight, class 3A — first, Tyler Hess; second, Jordan Yoder.

Light heavyweight, class 3B — first, Atalie Winters; second, Abby Reiff.

Light heavyweight, class 3C — first, Ben Welk; second, Jordan Hoover.

Light heavyweight champion — Ben Welk.

Heavyweight, class 4A — first, Abby Reiff; second, Jordan Yoder.

Heavyweight, class 4B — first, Brianna Hess; second, Brendan Good.

Heavyweight, class 4C — first, Dylan Coleman; second, Bobby Musser.

Heavyweight champion — Abby Reiff.

Grand champion — Atalie Winters.

Here are the results of the FFA hog show:

Lightweight hogs, class A — first, Shannon Wettig; second, Cade Murry.

Lightweight hogs, class B — first, Jenn Drumm; second, Jess Bauman.

Lightweight champion — Jenn Drumm.

Mediumweight hogs, class A — first, Justin Welk; second, Ethan Barley.

Mediumweight hogs, class B — first, Matt Hess; second, Roy Keagy.

Medium champion — Justin Welk.

Light heavyweight — class A — first, Cameron Long; second, Alex Cantey.

Light heavyweight, class B — first, Cameron Long; second, Kaleb Long.

Light heavyweight, class C — first, Matt Hess; second, Jordan Burkholder.

Light heavyweight champion — Cameron Long.

Heavyweight, class A — first, Katrina Reiff; second, Michael Schneider.

Heavyweight, class B — first, Justin Welk; second, Ethan Barley.

Heavyweight, class C — first, Alex Cantey; second, Angie Keagy.

Heavyweight champion — Justin Welk.

Grand champion — Justin Welk.

Hog showmanhip, class 1 — first, Kaleb Long; second, Justin Welk.

Hog showmanhip, class 2 — first, Atalie Winters; second, Amber Winters.

Hog showmanhip, class 3 — first, Ross Frey; second, Ben Welk.

Hog showmanhip, class 4 — first, Alex Cantey; second, Tyler Bauman.

Hog showmanhip, class 5 — first, Matt Hess; second, Janae Hoover.

Complete results were not available by press time for Wednesday's beef and sheep shows.

Champion of the 4-H beef show was Justin Welk. Champion of the FFA beef show was Ethan Murry.

Beef showmanship winners were Cameron Long, novice; Emily Good, intermediate; and Justin Welk, senior.

Champion of the 4-H sheep show was Kelsey Binkley. Champion of the FFA sheep show was Luke Hershey.

E-mail: tknapp@lnpnews.com