| Young
women of Millville are all "Miss" winners
By Jessica
Allen
April 20, 2009 | MILLVILLE On Saturday
evening seven girls participated in the Miss Millville
Pageant at the South Providence Stake Center.
All the girls that participated in
the annual event were juniors in high school and most
of them did it out of enjoyment, said the coordinator
of the pageant, Karlette Johnson. There would be no
winner and and it would not be treated like a competition.
Johnson said each girl would receive a tiara and flowers
at the end of the pageant for their participation.
“I did it because it wasn’t
like a normal pageant, and I was also threatened by
friends that I better do it or they would pounce me,”
Darcy DeHart, one of the girls that participated, said
when asked why she decided to do the pageant.
DeHart explained that a lot of her
friends didn’t live in Millville and had wanted to come
and watch her do it.
The pageant had a presentation slide
show with five pictures of each girl to introduce them,
followed by a guest speaker to say a few words to the
girls.
The speaker, Kristen Thacker, had
four “beauty tips” as she called them that she wanted
to share with the girls. Thacker’s four tips were to
celebrate their differences, to not be fooled by what
the world bombarded them with, to stay away from danger
and to always smile.
“[Smiling] helps break down
barriers that divide us,” Thacker said, “and if we do
these four things we will have a greater influence on
our family and friends.”
Following Thacker’s speech a talent
portion which the girls had the option of doing took
place. Five of the girls chose to perform with a variety
of talents.
Janece McMurdie and Felicia Webb
did a short dance routine together for the crowd, and
Andrea Ferrin played a folk song on her fiddle titled
“Ashokan Farewell” and was accompanied by her younger
brother Zan on the acoustic guitar.
Tina Morgan sang “Somewhere Over
the Rainbow” while accompanied by her father on the
piano, and Jamie Johnson performed a piece she had composed
on the piano titled “Alec’s Song,” which she had written
for her brother.
Kenzie Croft said she decided not
to participate in the talent segment, though her brothers
and dad thought she should have taken up a pole and
demonstrated fly fishing as her talent.
DeHart said she declined as well,
as she said she thought she didn’t have any talents
that could be displayed on the stage in front of a crowd.
All the girls participated in last
two segments of the pageant where a mini biography was
read as each girl came out in their formal dress with
their escort. The mini biographies had been written
by the parents or another family member and shared the
love that the family felt for each girl and shared the
goals and insight on their personality.
The last part of the pageant was
the crowning of the girls. Each pageant participant
received a tiara and a bouquet of flowers as their pictures
were taken by a professional photographer.
Johnson explained that the Millville
City Council had a master list of girls that were juniors
in high school, when asked about how they contacted
the girls.
“I formed a committee and we
just met and split up the girls to make sure they [had]
everything met,” Johnson explained as to how she and
the other volunteers were able to accomplish setting
up and running the pageant.
Every year the pageant can be performed
differently than the one that preceded it depending
on who volunteers for the committee and how they want
it to be run, Johnson said.
In the past the girl or girls that
were crowned could perform in The Dairy Princess Pageant
of Cache County, but it was disbanded last year, Johnson
said.
This year the pageant “[gave] the
girls a positive outlook and they have the opportunity
to ride on the Millville floats,” Johnson said about
what the girls that participate gain from the experience.
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