Kim Massarro tap dances during the talent segment of the Miss Jackson pageant Nov. 19. The 22-year-old University of Missouri-St. Louis senior was named Miss Jackson.
Robin Hosp, host of the afternoon pageants, tried to coax a few words out of a shy Casey Seabaugh.
Jan Allen videotaped her friend's daughter Casey Seabaugh.
Andrea Penzel, first runner-up for Little Miss Snowflake.
Winners of afternoon competition during the Miss Jackson Scholarship Competition Nov. 19: Kelsey Nicole Powell, Little Miss Snowflake, left, Jessica Nicole Eftink, Little Miss Snowball; Staci Dawn Cook, Miss Holly; and Jessica Miller, Junior Miss Christmas.
Six area women were selected from a field of about 80 contestants Nov. 19 as winners in the annual Miss Jackson Scholarship Pageants, sponsored by the Jackson chapter of the American Business Women's Association.
Winning the title of Miss Jackson was Kim Massaro, the 22-year-old daughter of Jim and Suzie Massaro of St. Louis. Carrie Heise, the 17-year-old daughter of Wayne and Kathy Heise of Jackson was named Miss Christmas during the pageant.
Among other winners in the pageants: Little Miss Snowflake Kelsey Nicole Powell, the 6-year-old daughter of Mike and Tammy Powell of Jackson; Little Miss Snowball Jessica Nicole Eftink, the 7-year-old daughter of Anthony and Karen Eftink of Leopold; Miss Holly Staci Dawn Cook, the 9-year-old daughter of Steven and Teresa Cook of Cape Girardeau; and Junior Miss Christmas Jessica Miller of New Madrid.
The winners in the various pageants vied for over $1,700 in scholarship money during last week's pageant. In all, about 80 young women competed in the contest, with over 50 taking part in the afternoon pageants -- for Little Miss Snowflake, Little Miss Snowball, Miss Holly and Junior Miss Christmas titles -- and over 25 entered in the evening pageants for Miss Jackson and Miss Christmas.
"We felt that we had a successful pageant," said organizer Mary Beth Williams. "We had good crowds and everyone we talked to had a good time.
"We had more contestants and more people attending and that was with a [Jackson High School] football game also going on that day and we thought that would hurt attendance," she added. "We've had a lot of compliments on the pageant and the people from the Miss Missouri pageant said that we were among the top five in the state in the amount of scholarship money given."
Williams explained that the Miss Jackson pageant is one of only 35 preliminary pageants in the state in which young women may qualify for participation in the Miss Missouri pageant.
"We've been doing the pageant for about four years now and this was the most successful," said Williams.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.