Miss Mississippi contestants arrive today to begin their preparations for the July competition.
Along with the rigorous schedule of the weekend orientation, the group is also scheduled to meet the corporation’s board of directors, to which two new members have been added.
“Johnny L. Reynolds, Sr. and Jennifer Adcock have been added to the Miss Mississippi Corporation board,” said, David Blackledge, the executive director of the board.
“No one was replaced,” he said, “we just felt like this was a good time to add to the board.”
“Reynolds is a resident of Vicksburg and has been a pageant volunteer for many years,” Blackledge said, “and he will be our first African-American to serve on the board.”
Reynolds has been a patient advocate at River Region Medical Center for 22 years. His professional and community involvement resume is a long one, having been RiverFest board member for 20 years and a teen help advisor and pace setter chairman with the United Way of West Central Mississippi. He was on the United Way’s board of directors from 2001 to 2005.
He is also a Mississippi local pageant judge, Blackledge said.
Miss Mississippi 2002 Jennifer Adcock is also a first for the board, being the first former Miss Mississippi to serve.
After being crowned Miss Mississippi, Adcock went on to become a top ten finalist in the Miss America Pageant, where she was also a preliminary swimsuit winner, Blackledge said. She finished speech communication degree from the University of Southern Mississippi upon completing her reign as Miss Mississippi and eventually went on the graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Adcock has been a state and local judge, a volunteer and a mistress of ceremonies with the Miss Mississippi and Miss America organizations. She lives in Hattiesburg, where she works in property management and real estate investment with her family.
Orientation kicks off at 5:45 p.m. with contestants meeting at the  Hinds Community College Auditorium. By 7:30 p.m. the group will have had radio interviews, head shots and measurements taken and their pageant week groupings determined for the competition.
At 8:30 a.m. Saturday, contestants will begin dance rehearsals that are scheduled to run until 4 p.m.
“I will be teaching all of the contestants the choreography for the show, so that when they arrive in July they will already know what to do for their production numbers,” said Chesley Lambiotte, the director/choreographer for the Miss Mississippi Pageant.
“The fact that our contestants perform in most of the show makes the Miss Mississippi Pageant unique and more exciting,” she said.
On Sunday morning, along with board member introductions, contestants and their family will hear a pep talk from former Miss Mississippi pageant contestant Ashley Buckman and a Miss America in Atlantic City pep talk from Miss Mississippi 2013 Chelsea Rick.
Families will learn about scholarship opportunities, rules and guidelines and the judging during the pageant. The contestants will also meet the women who will serve as their hostesses during pageant week.
The Miss Mississippi Pageant competition starts July 9 as contestants return to Vicksburg July 6 for the week of events, which include a parade, autograph signings and the preliminary competitions. Miss Mississippi 2014 will be crowned Saturday, July 12 at the conclusion of the final round of competitions.