Tiaras are a timeless ornament, beginning in childhood as young girls dream of life as a princess.

The allure continues as special occasions like New Year's Eve allow women of all ages to accessorize with a sparkling crown.

But for some young women, crowns are more than accessories. Those women compete in pageants for the chance to represent their county in various events throughout the year.

With a primary focus on agriculture, the queens represent rabbit breeders, cattle and horse groups — even a lamb and wool association. They participate in fairs, parades and classroom activities to raise awareness about their cause.

Mindy Stoops of Clay Township, the North Washington Rodeo Queen, estimates she has attended 20 parades since being crowned in May.

That's in addition to smaller events like the Bicycle Rodeo and a banquet in January at the North Washington Volunteer Fire Department, which sponsors the pageant.

Likewise, Butler County Dairy Princess Elaina Rader of Connoquenessing has attended numerous fairs and farm shows as well as the Butler County Farm Tour and the Spirit of Christmas Parade.

While preparing recently to represent Butler County at the upcoming state Farm Show in Harrisburg, Rader also squeezed in some time to visit seven classrooms at the Evans City Elementary School, reading stories to children and presenting facts about dairy consumption.

"At the fairs and farm shows I help hand out ribbons," she said, adding distributing ice cream was also a common function. "I went to Concordia (Lutheran Ministries) and helped the residents make butter," she added.

According to the princesses and queens, the commitment takes time: They budget a solid day for every scheduled event they attend. In Stoops' case, the teen opted to trailer her horse to ride in each parade instead of riding on a truck as expected.Since her parents own a mobile tack shop, Stoops was also able to match her horse's tack to her clothing at the parades — another special touch.Although a small stipend or scholarship is sometimes awarded, Stoops and other teen queens say the real rewards are less tangible."The (most fun) and most memorable things were working with the kids," said Stoops, who soon realized she was a role model for aspiring cowgirls.As an only child, Stoops said the experience offered a way to interact with the youths, who often clamored for souvenir photographs or a chance to pet her horse."I would say at the end of it, I was better at interacting with children. By the end I better understood them," she said.But children aren't the only audience for queens. Stoops and others say social and speaking skills were necessary to interact with all age groups.Rebekah Dunn of Mount Chestnut, the Miss Butler Fair Queen 2005, performed the role of hostess for various visitors to the event. Dunn also introduced grandstand events and served as fair spokesperson during interviews."Those are skills that are imperative to have when you do these kinds of things," she said. "It made me realize it's very important to speak well."In addition to speaking, the queens said they came to understand the importance of planning and teamwork.Stoops said attending so many parades taught her to be flexible, since schedules and details change as event plans unfold."I've really got a respect for what goes into doing (a project) like that," she said.

In Rader's case, teamwork came into play with other girls in the pageant who had been named dairymaids and dairy misses.Since many of those pageant participants also compete in livestock shows, the girls took turns handing out the show ribbons so the responsibility would not create a conflict with individual schedules."It's not just wanting a title and winning, it's a lot of volunteer work," Rader said. "It was the dairymaids and dairy misses — not just me.""There were a lot of people standing behind me helping me out," Dunn agreed. "That was actually one of the most important things that I learned. … There may be one person standing out front, but if you look behind that person — there are a lot of people standing there."Other important lessons included those more personal. Stoops said the experience enhanced her confidence, since the achievement completed a goal expressed since childhood.Showing a picture of Stoops at age 6 on a horse, her father Frank explained the joy of seeing his daughter realize a dream."I don't know how many years we've heard 'I am going to be rodeo queen someday,'" he recalled."I learned maybe I could do something like this," Stoops countered. "I really didn't think I could. I didn't expect to win. I didn't expect to make it this far."A longtime member of Future Farmers of America, Stoops credits that group with providing her with the self-assurance to win."It's been a real inspiration to me. I have to thank them because I would not be in this position if I hadn't had the experience," she said of public speaking opportunities presented through FFA.For Dunn and Rader, realizations appeared about the importance of agriculture. Both grew up on farms, but were limited by the perspective of childhood.Since the fair revolves around county agriculture, Dunn said she developed a new respect for the industry."Without the agriculture, we wouldn't have the fair. … That's one of the things you learn going through the process: that agriculture really is the heart of Pennsylvania — the quote is really true."For Rader, who serves as alternate fair queen as well as dairy princess, a transformation occurred when she realized life on the farm reflects a rich heritage instead of the stigma of rural poverty."Just living on a dairy farm in general, you don't always want to admit you are the daughter of a dairy farmer."At seminars, there are more people just like you," she said, describing how she discovered another, more important side to agriculture while off the farm."You learn what to be proud of in your industry, and you do want to promote it. You grow in ways you don't expect to grow in."