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Ashley Nicole Robertson (“Nikki”)

Ashley Nicole Robertson, known to many as “Nikki,” is the 33-year-old daughter of Jerry and Susan Robertson. She is a native of Sedley and resides in Courtland with her parents and her cat Critter. She has sparkling hazel eyes and medium brown hair. Nikki is a member of Sedley Baptist Church where she is a librarian and a preschool Sunday School class assistant teacher. She is a 2007 graduate of Southampton High School and a 2011 graduate of Paul D. Camp Community College. She has been employed at Dollar Tree in Franklin for two years and hopes to return to the career field of teaching and working with children soon. Twenty years ago, she took up an interest in clogging after watching numerous performances from the former County Line Cloggers. She began taking lessons in September 2002 and joined the performing team in May 2003. She performed with the group until the organization disbanded in 2005. In 2019, one of the former County Line dancers started the SoCo Cloggers team and Nikki joined the team with a few other former County Line dancers. She enjoys sharing her clogging talent in the fair’s talent show every year.

Nikki also enjoys working with children, participating in the fair pageant volunteering around her community, especially at the fair. She volunteers with the annual Little Miss Fair pageant every year and has also volunteered with the fair’s Haunted Hayride and A Day in the Country. She was the Franklin/Southampton County Fair Ambassador in 2017 and was a member of the Dream Chasers Relay for Life team from 2018 until 2021. Relay for Life is the platform she has chosen to honor the legacy of her late grandparents Estelle Edwards and Gene Robertson.

Nikki would like to become Ms. Franklin/Southampton County Fair 2022 because she would like to give back to her community and the fair that holds a special place in her heart. She always has a heart of gold: willing to lend a helping hand and is very supportive of others, even while competing in the pageant. Nikki is looking forward to welcoming new fair queens into the sisterhood and wishes her fellow contestants the best of luck in the pageant.

Ida Gray

Ida Gray is 30 years old who was born and raised in Southampton County. She recently graduated with her associate degree in Early Childhood Development at Paul D. Camp Community College. She is an aunt to beautiful niece and handsome nephew along with many others of extended family. She loves being outdoor enjoying her time by the bonfires, lake and family. Also, she loves teaching little children and going back in the spring to further education. She is a Chiari Malformation Warrior had a decompression June 2021. She is a fur mom to four dogs and one cat. The platform is Anti-Bullying because she was bullied starting in middle school until she graduated high school. She doesn’t like other children getting bullied when it puts them down into their self-esteem. The reason why she would like to be Ms. Franklin/Southampton County Queen as giving back to her community and things she has helped over the years with the fair.

Kathryn (Katie) Harry

My name is Kathryn (Katie) Harry, and I am taking part in the Franklin/Southampton County Pageant, and I am in the Ms. Contestants division. My platform for the pageant is mental health. I am a strong believer that we need to normalize mental health all across the board, as well as make it easily accessible for people to get the help they need, and not be afraid to be the judge if they do need help. I have firsthand experience with PTSD as well as anxiety and depression. The reason I would like to become Ms. Franklin/Southampton queen is so that I can help my community and reach the people who are afraid to seek help because I feel as if they know someone who is actively involved in the community about mental health and making a change they will have the courage to seek help, but in all reality, I am not doing this to win because whether I win or not, I just want people to know that everyone at some point in time has challenges and that it is nothing to be ashamed of. I am doing this to show that no matter who you are, whether you are queen or not we are all still human and we all still have issues in our lives that we can relate with one another.

 

Lauren Littell

Lauren Littell was born and raised in Matoaca. She is a mom and some of her favorite things are goats, Disney, car rides with the music up and beach trips! She’s an avid member of the performing arts and is extremely faith based, both have helped her through difficult times. She has a laryngeal trauma which is an injury to her voice box, resulting in permanent damage causing what the doctors told her parents would be a “soft, raspy, sexy voice.” To her, this is one of her biggest challenges but if she wasn’t intubated she wouldn’t be here on this stage talking with her shy soft voice. Despite all of her difficulties she loves to sing and play guitar and is here today as an inspiration for others who have daily challenges with longterm preemie issues. Her small voice is actually one of her biggest strengths.

The other thing that she wants to encourage people is to follow your dreams, not just the night of the pageant but every day! Her platform is NICU and Premature baby awareness because without the NICU she would not be here today. 1 out of 10 babies are born premature and 10% of babies end up in the NICU. She is your one out of 10 and 10%. She was born at 24 weeks, weighed one pound and only had a 10% chance of living despite all my challenges she faced. She is blessed to be here today and wants to inspire people especially moms who have premature and NICU babies that there is a light outside of the tunnel that you may be going through right now.

Answer to the question, Why would you like to become Ms.Franklin/Southampton County Fair Queen?: “After my mom passed away in 2014 and my dad got remarried in 2016, I had falling out with my remaining family. As a single mom I felt lonely and not good enough, and then I met Adam, my boyfriend. In 2020 (I) moved to Franklin, and have found a home again. Winning this title would help me be more active in the community and feel accepted into your “bigger” family.”

Mary Frances Flowers

Mary Frances Flowers is the mother to three girls Alexandria, Paisley Grace and Willow Rose. She is the owner of “Our daily bread LLC” caterer and baker, and always says a little prayer over each and every cupcake. Mary is a full-time student at Strayer University and will graduate with her bachelor’s in business administration this winter. Her second home is at Kingdom Impact where she attends church with her family. Mary’s passion to impact her community through service, love and kindness has really impacted her and her family’s life. Over every obstacle and challenge she faces, Mary chooses to put God first as her foundation in her personal life, her education, her finances and career. She plans to continue to serve her community and show up and out for Jesus.

 

Meredith Taylor

I am a 38 year old native of Southampton County, VA and the daughter of Don Rogers and the late Donna Rogers. I am married to Charles “Chip” Taylor and have two children, Easton Charles and Kendley Claribelle. Participating in this pageant is giving me the opportunity to show not only my children but also other members of our community that no matter the stage of life you are in, you can still have confidence and put yourself out there. I am passionate about Community Public Health: Nurse-Family Partnership and working with first time Mothers in the Western Tidewater district.