Durr, Fischer named Miss Sweet Sixteen, Seventeen

Tears rolled in the Family Tent Monday morning as Kalayna Durr was crowned Miss Sweet Sixteen at the 2021 Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.

The New London junior was shocked and in awe that she received the crown.

“I was by far not expecting to win at all,” Durr said. “It feels amazing, and I’m grateful that I will be able to represent Henry County and the reunion more than I already have.”

Durr, a junior at New London High School, has been coming to Old Threshers since a young age. She has had tractors on exhibit and volunteers at a number of events on the grounds, including the Thrashers House of Terror and Haunted Rails. She is heavily involved in 4-H, student council and National Honor Society.

Her parents are Tony and Ann Durr, and Deana and Daniel Hester.

Durr decided to participate in Miss Sweet Sixteen because it gave her an opportunity to work with the community and the process has been a rewarding one.

“I figured this was a great way to interact with the community even more because I love volunteering and meeting new people all around,” Durr said. “My favorite part was getting to meet all the amazing women I was competing against this week and also just meeting more people in the community and from around the world.”

The other young women who were crowned were Everlee Harvey, first runner-up; Tristian Shull, second runner-up; and Sydney McElhinney, Miss Volunteer. There were nine contestants.

Since the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion was canceled in 2020, so was the Miss Sweet Sixteen contest.

Instead of the 2020 contestants never getting the chance to be a part of the contest, the decision was made to crown a Miss Sweet Seventeen this year.

Ava Fisher, of Altoona, Iowa, was awarded the honor of Miss Sweet Seventeen.

Fisher was blown away when her name was announced.

“I’m honestly still in shock,” Fisher said. “I did this purely for fun. I had no intention of being crowned. I’m still in shock, honestly. It feels amazing, and all the girls I’ve participated with this week are incredible, just amazing people, and I love them all.”

Fischer is active in her church group, robotics, computer programming and tumbling. She has been active in Old Threshers by camping, being a button collector forum attendee, stitching bee attendee and the spelling bee winner.

Her parents are David Fischer and Susie Fischer.

For Fischer, the best part of being a Miss Sweet Seventeen participant is being able to help people in the community enjoy the reunion after missing out last year.

She was happy that last year’s group of girls was given the opportunity to come back to the reunion.

“It’s so amazing,” Fischer said. “I was so glad when I heard that there was going to be a Sweet Seventeen to make up for the Sweet Sixteen that didn’t happen last year.”

The young women crowned along with Fischer were: Kaitlyn Lee, first runner-up; Abby Blint, second runner-up; and Emma Harvey, Miss Volunteer.

The girls participated at a number of events throughout the reunion. During that time, undercover judges wander the grounds and observe each of the candidates. They are scored on how friendly, approachable and knowledgeable they are of Old Threshers.

Each of the ladies goes through a set of formal interviews where they answer questions and give a presentation on what could be added to the reunion.

Miss Sweet Sixteen and Seventeen Coordinator Danielle Davidson said she is proud of the growth she has seen from the ladies throughout the week.

“I’m just so proud of these girls, Davidson said. ”Even though some of these girls were not crowned, they’ve shown tremendous growth. They came in, they smiled, and they asked really hard questions to them that they knew nothing about. It’s just amazing to see how much they grown. I love working with them.“

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