After Jasmine Lansche was crowned the 2023 Old Settlers Queen on Aug. 5, she had mixed emotions.

The Montgomery City resident was happy that she won the contest that was held at the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds. But she wished there were more people in this year’s event.

Only two girls competed in this year’s queen contest. The other contestant, Mariah Fish, got first runner-up.

“I feel like it’s unfair with just two people,” Lansche said.

Lansche, who will be a junior at Montgomery County High School, received her crown from El Reagan, who was the 2022 queen. Lansche said she was influenced by Taren Justice, who was the 2019 queen, to enter the contest.

“I thank her a lot,” Lansche said. “We just need to get more people next year.”

Also, Annabelle Mayes won the Old Settlers Princess contest. Octavia Spurlock was voted first runner-up, Kennedy Bufka was selected second runner-up and Everly Reagan was named third runner-up.

There were seven contestants in this year’s princess contest. The other contestants were Ava Cruzen, Ella Knoepflein and Rylan Page.
Annabelle, who is 7, received her crown from last year’s princess Eliza Matthews. Last year, she was voted first runner-up.

During the Q & A session of the contest, Annabelle was asked who is her best friend. Her answer was Vera Swope.

“We like to play with each other a lot,” Annabelle said.

In the queen contest, Lansche was asked what it is like to live in a small community like Montgomery City.

“My favorite thing about living in a small community is everyone knows everyone,” Lansche said. “If I were to go on a walk downtown, I would be safe.”

Lansche said she enjoyed hanging out with Fish and Reagan during the two-day Old Settlers Picnic weekend. Fish will be a freshman and Reagan will be a senior at MCHS this fall.

“It was fun,” Lansche said. “Mariah, El and I got along. It was more than just friends. I felt like it was more than a family thing. It was good.”

The Old Settlers Picnic began on Aug. 4 with Lansche, Fish and Reagan participating in the dunking booth in which patrons got a chance to dunk a queen contestant.

“Other than how cold the water was, I think it was really fun,” Lansche said. “Each one of us dunked on each other and made each other laugh.”

The queen contest is one of the biggest events in the Old Settlers Picnic, which wrapped up its 142nd year. Two years ago, there were eight contestants in the contest. That number dropped to four last year.

Lansche said the best way to get more contestants in next year’s queen contest is posting it on social media.

“A lot of people came up to me and told me that they should have done it,” said Lansche, who is a member of the student council and participates in the A+ tutoring program. “They made sure that they would do it next year. They need to. It’s good for public speaking, getting yourself out there and getting out of your comfort zone and learning new things.”