The lights, the sound, the performance made it an amazing spectacle, made it an event that changed a lot of perceptions I had strongly held for far too long.

We are just a few short weeks away from the start of the long list of events tied to the Miss Mississippi Pageant; an event that is truly far bigger, far more important than I could have ever imagined.

Let me rewind just for a moment.

When I first received the offer to move to Vicksburg, there was little I knew about Vicksburg other than the historical impact the siege of Vicksburg had on the Civil War. My mother was a history teacher, and I admittedly had caught the fever and was a lover of history.

Shortly after receiving the offer, Stephanie and I made a trip to Vicksburg, both to learn more about the area and look at houses.

As luck would have it, that visit fell on what is lovingly called “pageant week.”

Hotel rooms were impossible to reserve, requiring we stay at a local bed and breakfast.

Restaurants were packed, downtown was bustling and there just seemed to be a buzz in the city.

Little did we know or appreciate just what pageant week was all about. Now we know and love it.

I will admit that for the longest time I would have classified the movie ‘Miss Congeniality’ as a documentary of pageants. I had taken photos of some pageants and had all the preconceived notions many do.

Boy, was I wrong.

Since that first visit, I have taken great pleasure in the increased coverage The Post has given the Miss Mississippi Pageant and the Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.

I have come to meet and know many of the organizers of the pageants and learned just how much sweat and tears go into the planning and production of the pageants.

And, I have come to appreciate just what the Miss Mississippi Pageant has come to mean for the city of Vicksburg in its decades of calling Vicksburg home.

I recently learned that the economic impact of the Miss Mississippi Pageant on the Vicksburg economy is more than $3.5 million dollars. A figure, that I am sure is pretty accurate, but one that I believe might be a little low.

As we come close to my second pageant in Vicksburg, I can understand the feeling that we first felt in Vicksburg on that very first visit.

I know why the restaurants were packed, the hotel rooms booked and downtown bustling.

The Miss Mississippi Pageant might not have been first started in Vicksburg, but there is no doubt that Vicksburg is Miss Mississippi’s hometown.

Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication.