Miss Seven Springs Pageant Saturday
By Catharin Shepard
Published in News on November 11, 2009 1:46 PM
Classic Moments in Time Productions and the Town of Seven Springs will present the annual Miss Seven Springs pageant this Saturday.
The pageant will be in a different location, and earlier this year than in previous years. Normally it is held the day of the town's Christmas parade, but rescheduling was necessary for the 2009 pageant.
"This will actually be the first year that we do it at town hall," town clerk Karen Webster said.
And for the first time, Classic Moments in Time Productions co-organizer Deborah Autrey herself will be gracing the stage, in the brand-new Classic Miss competition category. Although her daughter Desiree Autrey-Houston has been involved in many pageants before as a competitor and today teaches dance and produces pageants, Mrs. Autrey has never been in one herself.
And she's currently unopposed in the category, she said.
Mrs. Autrey is joining in on the fun just to help develop interest in the pageant, which so far only has six entered participants, all of whom will go home with a crown, she said.
"I'm going to be Miss Seven Springs before I die," she said, laughing, "If I don't chicken out."
The pageant is a smaller one, but will feature plenty of entertainment and fun for attendees and participants. The smaller size also gives the girls and women a better chance to reign as a pageant queen than the bigger, much more heavily competitive pageants in the area, Mrs. Autrey said. The Miss Seven Springs pageant also does not include a talent competition due to stage size restrictions, which makes it a little easier for young women who haven't worked out all of their dance moves yet.
"It's just good for the community," Mrs. Autrey said. "We have been trying to build the Miss Seven Springs pageant for the past three years."
The Classic Moments in Time Productions mother and daughter team has been having a hard time recruiting more competitors, but even so, "this is a good little training pageant," she said.
"The pageant began in 2003 and has been held in November each year," producer Desiree Autrey-Houston said. "The newly crowned court will have the opportunity to ride in the Seven Springs Christmas parade and be (a) special guest at the Seven Springs Ole Timey Days Festival to be held in May of 2010."
The contestants will compete in evening wear and sports wear, and will have the option to compete in photogenic and Christmas wear categories as well. The Overall Majestic title goes to the contestant with the highest score who participates in all categories.
"People who've done it have loved it," Mrs. Autrey said.
The pageant is open to ages contestants of any age, with multiple age categories for competition. It will be held at the Seven Springs town hall on West Spring Street on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.