A single mother to a six-year-old daughter, a businesswoman and a pageant queen all describe Sarah Michelle Burton, who returned to pageantry after a 15-year hiatus and won the title of Ms. Kentucky County Fair last weekend.
Burton said pageantry has long been a part of her life. She began competing in county fair pageants across Kentucky at age 10 and continued through her teen and young adult years.
“The reason that I did pageantry is it is something that I enjoy and I want to do something for me, but it also showed her [Burton’s daughter] that I can do big things while still being her mom,” she said.
At 13, Burton won the 2003 Miss Teen Adair County Fair title. She advanced to the state competition in October 2003 but did not place. Burton competed at the state level several times in both the teen and miss divisions but never won a state crown.
By age 21, she was no longer eligible to compete. Burton believed her dream of winning a Kentucky title had ended.
That changed in the summer of 2024, when the Kentucky County Fair Association announced the addition of Ms. and Mrs. divisions to its pageant lineup. The Ms. division is open to unmarried contestants 22 and older and the Mrs. division is for married contestants 22 and older.
“So, I competed that summer at Monroe County,” said Burton. “Middle of the summer, spur of the moment and won that one.”
The Monroe County victory earned her a spot at the state pageant, where she placed first runner-up in the Ms. Kentucky County Fair competition.
“When I got first runner up, it lit a fire in me and I’m like I want to win this,” she said. “I just started prepping where I was going to go strategically to compete that summer.”
Burton was born and raised in Adair County but attended school in Russell County. She said representing the county she graduated from was important to her. In May 2025, she competed in and won the Ms. Russell County Jaycee’s Fair title.
“It meant a lot for me to go back there and hold that title,” said Burton.
At the state competition, delegates compete in cocktail dresses and formal wear. This year, contestants were required to wear purple cocktail dresses, a detail that carried special significance for Burton.
“This is actually a really special part of my story,” she said. “Everyone was complaining about the color being purple. Then they told us that the Miss director for the last 50 years passed away of pancreatic cancer this year.”
“So, they chose that color last year to honor her at state this year. They did not know she would be gone,” she said.
“Then, the lady that coached me this year, her father passed away of pancreatic cancer,” she said. “The Monday before the pageant, I started a new job as a pancreatic strategic account manager launching a new early detection screening test for pancreatic cancer.”
She did not think these were all coincidental and hoped that it signified that this was her year.
Burton said her onstage question was, “What in life are you most grateful for?”
“I’m a single mom so I shared about how I was grateful to find a balance between ambition and motherhood, and I hope to have a positive impact on other women to see that you can nurture families and futures at the same time.”
Burton said the timing and connections surrounding the pageant felt meaningful and helped her answer the question with confidence.
She said she hopes her journey encourages young women to pursue their goals, whether in pageantry or other areas of life.
“Go for it and you can figure it out as you go,” she said.
Burton’s hometown is Columbia. She is the daughter of Dale and Rhonda Burton and said she is eager to give back to the community where she was raised.
“I am open for appearances in Columbia because it is my hometown,” she said. “I’m open to do assemblies or speeches or meet with the kids.”
“I’d love to have those opportunities to go and talk to the kids about not giving up on your dreams. This has been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old and started competing,” she said. “Not giving up on your dreams and growing throughout your seasons of life.”
By Amy Pike
amy@adairvoice.com
