GALLIPOLIS - Carly Gilmore was selected Little Miss Gallia County for 2006 and Brody Sauer was crowned Little Mr. Gallia County on Monday following the annual contest sponsored by the Gallipolis Lions Club at the Gallia County Junior Fair.

Gilmore is the daughter of Renee and Rich Gilmore, and was runner-up for Little Miss at the 2006 Gallipolis River Recreation Festival. Sauer, the son of J.R. and Brooke Sauer, added another crown to his collection of honors as Little Mr., a title he also won at this year's River Recreation Festival.

Runner-up for Little Miss at the fair is Sydney Little, whose guardians are Wade and Billie Jo Little. Runner-up for Little Mr. Gallia County is Layne Fitch, son of Chris and Tracy Fitch.

The new Little Miss was selected from a field of 37 contestants, while 22 boys were in contention for the Little Mr. title. They were crowned by 2005 royalty Lexie Johnson and Matthew Howes.

All of the contestants were interviewed on stage by Jeff Fowler, a member of the Gallipolis Lions' board of directors who's been master of ceremonies for about 12 years.

Fowler asked questions focusing on the kids' favorite fair activities or rides, subjects in school and teachers, and how they got along with their siblings, with some of the responses enjoyed by the audience.

“It does get to be more fun each year,” said Fowler, a veteran Gallia County Local Schools educator. “But the kids change over the years. In the past, they were into sports, but now it's TV and video games.”

Sponsors of the contests included Loan Central, Floral Fashions, Burlile Petroleum and Bates Brothers Amusements, all of them recognized in introductory remarks by Lions President Rick Tipple.

Judges for the events were Lions dignitaries Jay Carey of Washington Court House, current District 13-J governor, and his wife Carol, and Floyd Newberry and his wife Elaine of Lake Winonka, Ohio. Floyd Newberry is a past international director of the Lions organization, while his spouse is the District 13-J vice governor.

Between the girls and boys competition, Ohio Valley Bank recognized the 2006 OVB 4-H Scholarship recipients, Kristine Bostic and Beth Payne, who each received their first of four annual $500 checks from OVB Executive Vice President Larry Miller.

Also receiving checks were past recipients Kelsey Huffman from 2005; Erica Taylor and Emily Walker from 2004; and Sarah Russell Deel and Mariah Saunders Woodward from 2003.