Weatherly Area High School graduate Eva Eroh ushered in a new reign of royalty at one of the region’s most beloved summer traditions Monday night.

Eroh was crowned 2025 Carbon County Fair Queen in a moment she described as “a little overwhelming.”

“I’ve seen the queens growing up, so it was kind of a goal to be one when I got older,” she said. “I’m just really excited to be the fair queen now. I get to represent our fair in a whole different way.”

Following the ceremony, Eroh shared what inspired her to compete.

“I had one of the previous fair queens when I was younger always say that I would be the next one and that I had to do it,” she said. “So that was kind of my driving factor. And then just as I got older, the scholarship and everything seemed really nice to have.”

Eroh said she enjoyed the interview portion of the process most.

“I love giving speeches and talking to people and meeting new people, so going to do the interview was quite a lot of fun for me,” she added.

As the program transitioned to the farewell from 2024 Fair Queen Jocelyn Motola, emotions ran high.

“I want to start this off by saying thank you to everyone for letting me represent our fair this past year. It has been such an amazing journey,” Motola said. “I’ve seen so many new things, and I’ve gotten to meet so many new people.”

She gave heartfelt thanks to her mother, friends, and supporters.

“My mom… she was always there helping with picking out outfits and having fun shoes and driving all over and doing all this crazy stuff,” she said.

To the incoming queen, Motola shared words of encouragement.

“I hope everything you do is in confidence and that you always believe in yourself and always just have fun,” Motola said.

As a longtime fair participant, Eroh shared one of her favorite memories.

“One year, I sold a chicken for $1,000, and that was the most shocking, random thing that’s ever happened to me, and it’s one of my favorite memories,” she said.

Looking ahead, Eroh is excited to take on the duties of fair queen.

“There’s so many activities and things that the fair queens do,” she said. “I’ve been in a handful of parades before, but I’ve been in the marching band section. So I’ve had to play my instruments, and now I’m going to sit in a car and smile and wave at people. That seems a lot more fun.”

Carbon Fair Queen organizer Maria Burits reflected on the challenges the 2024 court faced during last year’s fair, which was plagued by persistent rain and difficult conditions.

“Talk about a rainy year last year, if any of you remember, we barely had one full day that we could just exist on these fairgrounds,” she said. “It was a mud pit. These girls were positive every single day. They showed up, they did the work in the mud, and they made it happen.”

She praised the court’s resilience and attitude.

“They took down the tent and put it back up about 100 times because we couldn’t predict the weather. I don’t know any other young ladies that show up the way these girls do. They have unmatched positivity and joy. They show up to everything like we all should. We can learn from them.”

Judges for the 2025 contest included Kathryn McEvilly of the Hofford Mill, Jessica O’Donnell-Gower of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Ashley Mosier of Neff’s National Bank.

The event also included the crowning of Lexi Seiple as the 2025 Junior Miss.