MISS JACKSON PAGEANT PLANS BEING MADE

The Miss Jackson pageant will be held Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Jackson High School. Pageant director Mary Beth Williams and volunteers are getting everything in order for the preliminary pageant for Miss Missouri 1998.

There will also be a Miss Christmas crowned that night. At 2 p.m. Miss Junior Christmas, Miss Holly, Little Miss Snowball and Little Miss Snowflake will be crowned.

Little Miss Snowball and Miss Christmas started in 1992. Miss Jackson was added in 1993 as a preliminary to Miss Missouri.

Williams said that entries are coming in and she expects that about 75 will enter in the pageants.

The deadline for entries is Nov. 7. After that there will be no more entries accepted.

All rehearsals except for Miss Jackson will be held on Thursday, Nov. 20.

Rehearsal for Miss Jackson will be held in the morning on Nov. 22, because girls from across the state will enter the pageant.

Williams said that a highlight of the pageant will be when the Missouri Girls will be coming back to perform during the evening pageant.

They will perform song and dance numbers and will headline the show. They will also introduce the contestants and perform throughout the show.

Missouri Girls are selected by the producer of the Miss Missouri Pageant and are very talented girls, Williams said.

Terri Tomlin is the production coordinator for the pageant and said her job will be coordinating what goes on stage, lights and sound and everything else that needs to be done in between.

She said that she will have a lot of help from volunteers and they will all follow a master booklet prepared by Williams that guides them through the pageant.

The pageant is sponsored by the American Business Womens Association. The chapter in Jackson has 40 members that will help with the pageant.

Their mission is to support scholarships for women.

The winner and the runner-ups will receive scholarships. The winner will receive the largest scholarship around $1,500 while the runners-up will get $100 scholarships each.

We will have close to $2,000 to give away in scholarships in the Miss Jackson Scholarship Fund, according to Williams.

Each girl that enters in the pageants will be given a package of gifts donated from people and businesses in Jackson and the surrounding area.

"They've been very generous over the years," Williams said.

Also, winners in other pageants will receive tickets to Six Flags, savings bonds and gift certificates.

Entry forms are available from Williams at 243-4676 or they are available at the Southeast Hospital Outreach Center at Main Street Fitness.