It’s nearing time to crown the 2019 Pike County Miss Hospitality.
Sponsored by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, the 2019 Miss Hospitality Pageant will be held April 20 at Southwest Mississippi Community College in the Horace C. Holmes Student Union.
Applications must be turned in to the Chamber of Commerce by March 8.
This year, requirements have been tweaked at the state level to include dual enrollment students in addition to high school graduates, said Miss Hospitality program chair Karinlee Brister.
Local winners will receive a scholarship and the chance to participate in a state pageant held July 21-27 in Hattiesburg.
“Personally, I would just like to be able to expand opportunities to represent Pike County to the young ladies in our community,” Brister said. “I hope they can win some scholarship money and work with other young ladies throughout the state and be able to experience the pageant on a state level.”
As a 2003 Miss Hospitality herself, Brister said she values the experiences and opportunities she had because of the pageant.
“The pageant experience is absolutely incredible,” she said. “I participated with girls I went to college with, I’m still friends with them and it was a great way to network with wonderful women throughout the state of Mississippi.”
After six years of inactivity, the Chamber relaunched Miss Hospitality in 2016 and Brister stressed the 2019 pageant would not be happening without help from the Chamber and members of the community.
Additionally, this year’s competition will have an interview portion in the morning and a cocktail section in the afternoon, where the women will wear a cocktail dress in the color of their choice.
Keeping in line with the Pike County Miss Hospitality’s duties to promote tourism industry and economic development throughout the county, participants also have to present a 20-second on-stage commercial during the competition.
“On a local level, we’re very excited to be able to offer a scholarship and title as well as a civic award recognizing civic work in the community, which is very prestigious and a long-standing tradition here in Pike County,” Brister.
Though the scholarship amount hasn’t been determined yet, Brister said she is working with different entities to decide what the value will be.
“Right now I have a target of what I know the minimum amount will be,” she said.
To enter the pageant, applicants must:
• Must be a resident of Pike County.
• Must represent hometown and/or county, not the city where she attends college.
• Must be a high school graduate or dual enrollment student who plans to attend college.
• Must never have been married or had children.
• Must be between the ages of 18 and 24 by the first day of judging (Wednesday) of the state pageant week.
• Must not have entered the state pageant previously.
• Must submit a resume that includes honors, awards and community service.
• Must have a 2.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and provide transcript.
• Must submit digital copy of one head shot in 5x7 format for the application to be considered complete. The photo can be emailed to karinleebrister@gmail.com.
For more information about the application process and entry requirements, contact the Chamber of Commerce at (601) 684-2291 or Brister at (601) 248-0145.
