Three candidates were interviewed for the 2026 Carbon County Fair Queen. One girl was interviewed for 2026 Carbon County Fair Junior Miss.

The three applying for queen are: Lea Yemm of Jim Thorpe, Chastity Kibler of Lehighton and Daphne Gowin of Lehighton.

Lexi Seiple of Lehighton, who is the 2025 Carbon County Fair Junior Miss, interviewed to retain the position for 2026, due to the fact that there we no other applicants.

The three judges were Linda Zaneski, who served as Miss Pennsylvania 35 years ago; Melissa Mohr, from Lehigh Carbon Community College, and Kylie Adams-Weiss, executive vice president of the Carbon County Chamber & Economic Development.

Each candidate introduced herself to the judges. The candidate was asked three questions, one from each judge, about serving as fair queen; then each candidate read a prepared speech regarding the Carbon County Fair.

Chastity Kibler is a 2026 graduate of the Carbon Career & Technical Institute, Jim Thorpe, from the health and medical program. She currently works for a doctor’s office. Kibler ran for fair queen in 2024, and has a 13-month-old brother. She enjoys attending the Carbon County Fair each year, and takes part in the junk car races.

“I want to take part in the community as much as possible, to go to more places, especially the parades,” Kibler said during her interview. “My experience from running before was good, and that’s why I’m doing it again. I’m older now, more mature.”

Lea Yemm is a senior from Jim Thorpe and is a student at CCTI in the Electrical Distribution and Automation field, and has a dual enrollment at LCCC, working on her associate degree. She is actively involved in SkillsUSA, DECA, Student Council, and 4-H.

“I would like to make the social media contact more personal for the queen, so you can build a relationship with the people,” Yemm stated. “Also to reach out to younger girls to help build up the Junior Miss program, to get them involved at at younger age. If you get them young, they stay with it.”

Daphne Gowin will be a junior at Lehighton High School this year. Gowin is a member of the school’s marching band and concert band. She has been a member of 4-H since she was six years old, and serves as President of the Mahoning Club, shows beef, rabbits, and poultry, and has learned crochet, sewing, and air rifle.

“I was Junior Miss two years ago and Junior Miss runner up three years ago,” Gowin explained. “I loved those experiences, I got to meet a lot of people. Even if I don’t win, I will still be able to help out. I want to be a veterinarian, and I will need to talk to people every days, so I need to get used to that.”

Lexi Seiple will be a sophomore at Lehighton High School this fall, and plans to attend the Carbon Career & Technical Institute. She is also a member of the 4-H, where she in involved in several projects.

“One of my goals is definitely to get more young women involved, to come and do what I do. To get them to do stuff. They might like it, they might not. But, it’s good to get them to try.”

The 2026 Carbon County Fair Queen and Junior Miss will be officially announced at the opening ceremonies at the Carbon County Fair on Monday, Aug. 3 at 3 p.m. on the main stage.