KING CITY — The Salinas Valley Fair was scheduled for the second week in May, but just as many fairs across the state, it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the fair itself can’t happen, livestock can’t be shown, and corndogs can’t be eaten, some of its charms remain as they named recent Templeton High School graduate Ashley Rosilez as Miss Salinas Valley Fair.

Rosilez says she got the idea to enter from one of her friends that competed in 2019. Seeing as she already showed livestock and was experienced in doing so and was going to be attending the Salinas Valley Fair, she should go for it and was rewarded with the crown.

“Sadly, at the end of our meeting, I was the only one running, which was kind of crazy and shocking,” Rosilez said. “It’s a really big process. What most of the queens have to do is go through a series of tests and horsemanship practices as well as competitions at the King City Fairgrounds. They also do a lot of speaking competitions. We were going to be asked a series of questions on certain days at events as well as a presentation that we were going to do.”

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Contributed photos

The Queen from Templeton hasn’t had her chance to meet the community yet but has already left an imprint of the Salinas Valley Fair with her creativity and affinity for music. Rosilez still had to take the required test and prepare a presentation to show why she deserved to be the Queen and record a video incorporating the Fair’s 2020 theme, which is now the Fair’s Youtube page.

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“I did a song for my presentation because my family is very musical,” Rosilez said. “I brought out my guitar and sang a song that would welcome people to the fair and it was to the tune of ‘This Land Was Made For You And Me,’ which fit the Fair’s theme which was ‘This fair was made for ewe and me,’ and a ewe is a female lamb, so it was kind of fun.”

The newly graduated senior is hoping that she may be able to join a parade or speak at a Rotary meeting if the pandemic permits but is also committed to college in the fall and is willing to carry her royal duties even while at school in the fall.

“I am committed to a women’s college in Massachusetts called Mount Holyoke College,” Rosilez said. “Hopefully, while I’m at school, I will do a lot of Zoom meetings and utilize the cool Zoom stuff we have been doing nowadays and do all my meetings that way while also reaching out to people.”