Preparations are under way for the 2007 Miss Byram/Tri-County, Miss Metro Jackson and Miss Midsouth Pageants, which will be held Saturday at the Madison Cultural Center on Main Street in Madison.
The pageants are official preliminaries for the Miss Mississippi Pageant, held each summer in Vicksburg, and the Miss America Pageant. The Miss America Organization is the largest provider of scholarships for young women in the United States.
Last year, more than $45 million in scholarships was offered to young women wanting to pursue their education, pageant coordinator Mike Spurgeon said.
“Our current Miss Mississippi, Taryn Foshee, got $15,000 this year for winning the Miss Mississippi Pageant,” he said. “In other preliminary pageants she’s won in the past, she got a few thousand each year.”
Spurgeon said the main preparations for the pageants are finding participants, hiring judges and finding a place to hold the events.
In order to enter a pageant, young women simply apply, and Spurgeon picks the participants. The judges mostly consist of local and out-of-state directors for other pageants, he said.
Spurgeon said his favorite part of coordinating pageants is the participants themselves.
“I enjoy doing this, and I really enjoy getting to know all of the girls. They are all so smart and talented,” he said.
Foshee attends Misssissippi State University and plans on going to law school when she graduates, Spurgeon said.
“Taryn is a wonderful young lady. She is extremely intelligent, and I see her doing very well in the Miss America Pageant,” he said.
Sophomore biological science major Lillian Collins said she did not know anything about the pageants.
The pageants seem like they are an excellent opportunity for girls who cannot pay for college on their own to earn some extra money, she said.
“I am planning on watching the pageants on TV now that I know about them,” Collins said.
Sophomore biological science major Jill Nelson said she also plans on watching them on TV.
“I always enjoy watching pageants,” Nelson said. “I watched Miss Byram/Tri-County last year, and it was really fun to watch. I am interested in watching the Miss Mississippi Pageant because people in my area are involved.”
The scholarships offered through the pageants serve as another avenue for people to get money for school, especially those who really need help getting through college, Nelson said.
“It is harder than people think to get scholarships. This is just another way people’s lives will be made easier,” she said.