HCPM25: Princess Jillian Simpson reflects on the year that was
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
While she’s still only just 14 years old, Jillian Simpson has crammed a tremendous amount of experience into the last year as she has served the Huron Plowmen’s Association - and its annual Huron County Plowing Match - as its Princess.
It was just under a year ago that Simpson sat on stage near Bayfield and was crowned Princess amid a field of impressive candidates. She said she was stunned at the time, especially with the level of competition on that stage from young girls who had all come to be friends over the course of the day, but, in the year since, she has been busy, showing why she was a great choice to represent the association. Furthermore, the Princess program was established years ago - thanks in part to the foresight and initiative of George and Ruth Townsend - as a feeder system for the Queen of the Furrow competition, to get younger girls interested in vying for the senior crown; Simpson recently told Huron County Council that she is looking forward to, in a few years, throwing her hat into the ring in hopes of winning the title.
That was part of a joint presentation about the plowing match, an annual tradition undertaken by the Queen of the Furrow and the Princess to invite council to the match and catch them up on all they’ve done in the past 12 months. As well, Simpson took the time away from her busy schedule to chat with The Citizen and it’s clear that she has had a great year wearing the tiara and the sash, representing the Huron Plowmen’s Association and spreading the good news about the Huron County Plowing Match, scheduled for Aug. 14-15 at the Dodds family farm between Walton and Seaforth.
Simpson says she has had a busy year, attending many events throughout all of Huron County. Her schedule - much of it shared with Queen of the Furrow Mackenzie Horner, formerly Terpstra - began instantly, with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association reunion and several fall fairs throughout the county in September. From there, it was almost directly into Santa Claus parade season and the two young women sat in the beds of plenty of pick-up trucks, bundled under blankets, wearing their coats, hats and mitts during the unseasonably cold winter, but waving with enthusiasm to the onlookers nonetheless.
As the cold weather turned warm, the pair has kept busy with spring fairs, Clinton Raceway appearances and their aforementioned addresses to Huron County Council at its July 2 meeting in Goderich, all leading up to the match later this month.
There, Simpson says her role will be to act as somewhat of a mentor to this year’s Princess contestants, as well as to emcee the Princess competition as her last official duty before handing over the crown.
It’s been an eventful year and an experience that she hasn’t taken lightly. Her mother competed to be the Queen of the Furrow in both 2003 and 2004, so in vying to be the Princess last year, she wanted to honour that familial legacy. Furthermore, her grandfather, John Becker, has been involved with the match for years, so that lineage is not lost on her either.
Looking back on the year that was, Simpson says she has changed immensely from her first day as the Princess to the final days of her reign. She says her confidence has increased exponentially and she is very comfortable speaking to people in both one-on-one and public speaking scenarios and she attributes that to her experience as the 2024/2025 Princess.
As far as the future is concerned - aside from her intention to seek the Queen of the Furrow crown when she is of age to do so - Simpson is focused on finishing up her education at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School in Clinton before attending the University of Guelph. There, she hopes to study Food and Agricultural Business.