Ancaster Fair Ambassador Sara Emick has been named Ambassador of the Fairs at the Canadian National Exhibition.

Emick, 22, topped dozens of young fair representatives from across Ontario to win the title on Aug. 18 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

She is the first Ancaster Fair Ambassador to win the provincial honour in the competition’s 48-year history.

“It feels awesome, kind of surreal right now,” Emick said on Aug. 20.

As Ambassador of the Fairs, Emick has earned a year-long title that will take her across the province as a representative of the CNE and all agricultural fairs. For now, Emick is enjoying a VIP role at the Ex, which runs through Labour Day at Exhibition Place in Toronto. For Emick, confidence was key to her success in the competition.

“I wasn’t too nervous answering the questions because I prepared so much for the speech and the impromptu questions,” she said.

The competition included one-minute speeches about agriculture and the ambassadors’ own local fairs, plus short statements about themselves.

Emick is comfortable in the public eye: she recently graduated from the public relations postgrad program at Humber College, after earning a degree in child and youth studies at Brock University. She’s slated to begin an internship with Bell Media in December.

After hearing her name called among the top seven finalists, Emick was asked to repeat her speech, which focused on pride of place and the CNE. Once she was named in the top three, Emick was sequestered in a separate room, as she and the other finalists were each asked the same question — if you were the minister of agriculture, what program would you fund and why?

“I said that it would be a research program, and I would look into social media and how we can connect people in the city to farmers in the country and help get farmers’ messages across,” Emick recalled.

In the first few days of her CNE experience, Emick attended a citizenship ceremony, which she described as “very emotional and very exciting.” She’s also made appearances at numerous exhibits and attractions.

“We do a lot of appearances at different events around the CNE and we kind of experience everything,” said Emick.

Emick is also excited to check out everything on the international stage, as well as the farm building, where she plans to make a daily appearance.

“It’s going to be exciting with a lot of concerts going on at the bandshell, so I’ll be checking all of those out,” she added.

Emick is also eager to try the array of innovative culinary creations in the food court.

“Definitely, pickle pizza comes to mind,” she said. “I definitely want to try the sushi burrito and I’m not sure if I will try the sriracha ice cream. They often have mac and cheese concoctions, so that’s always a win in my books.”

The CNE also includes an East Coast Kitchen Party, featuring food trucks and vendors.

Overall, Emick is thoroughly enjoying her 18 days at the CNE and her role as Ambassador of the Fairs.