Five Hills Scholarship Pageant goes virtual on Saturday
Special to Leader-Press
The 7th Annual Miss Five Hills Scholarship Pageant will be held Saturday, but the competition will be different due to the pandemic. Scheduled on its original date of March 21, the popular community event was postponed to May 30 due to COVID-19 and state requirements to not gather in large groups.
Despite Texas re-opening in many areas throughout the month of May, the City of Copperas Cove Parks and Recreation Department erred on the side of caution to keep citizens safe and postponed the pageant a second time to August 1.
Volunteer pageant director Wendy Sledd and the pageant board of directors surveyed contestants to determine the level of interest if the pageant was not held for another three months.
“More than half of the contestants voted to have it virtually,” Sledd said. “Just under 30 percent voted to cancel it and another 20 percent voted in favor of postponing it until August.”
Sledd said she was not surprised at the lack of interest in postponing until the end of summer.
“The new titleholders only reign for one year and then it is time to crown their successors. They compete for the crown to plan and execute major service projects to positively impact the community,” Sledd said. “By waiting until August, nearly half of their reigns would be over and they would have completely missed opportunities to lay the groundwork for their projects this summer as well as many summer events.”
Ninety-four of the 118 contestants chose to support the pageant and not request a refund of their entry fee. All contestants are also required to submit a full-length photo in their pageant attire that will be included in the judging process.
The judges will also score essays from parents of contestants ages 0-8 years old on why they entered their children in the pageant and how they will make the most of their year-long reigns if selected to represent the City.
Contestants ages 9-50-plus years will be interviewed by the judging panel via ZOOM on Saturday. Copperas Cove Five Hills Ambassador Briana Liles will introduce each contestant to the judges at the beginning of the interview to help put them at ease.
“I am excited to be able to help the contestants feel less nervous and just enjoy their time with the judges. They are all queens too, so they understand what it is like to be interviewed,” Liles said. “I competed for the crown several years before I won. So, I know how it is to want so badly to win the crown. But, you also have to have fun while you are competing. And remember, if you don’t win, you just come back and try again next year.”
On Sunday, May 31, the winning essays, photos, and interview videos will be posted on Facebook. Winners for both categories will be announced via the Miss Five Hills Scholarship Pageant’s social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.