Vicksburg is host to two state pageants, and on Wednesday Earl Edris and Jaynie Fedell, members of the Miss Mississippi Pageant executive board, were the guest speakers during the weekly Lions Club meeting.

Edris is the executive secretary for the Miss Mississippi pageant board, and Fedell is the executive producer of the Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.

Edris gave an overview on what the Miss Mississippi Pageant Corp. does, what goes on behind the scenes of the pageant and upcoming events, while Fedell focused attention on the teen pageant.

“The Miss Mississippi Corporation runs two pageants. The Miss Mississippi Scholarship Pageant and the Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant,” Edris said.

“Scholarship is the key word. One of our main purposes is to provide scholarships to the young ladies. We are trying to empower the girls to meet their potential, and we want them to have scholarship money so they can reach that potential,” Edris said.

Winners of the state pageants will continue on to compete for the national titles where they will have the opportunity to win additional scholarship dollars.

The Miss America Pageant Corporation is the largest scholarship provider for women, Edris said.

Contestants for the Miss Mississippi Pageant must be 18 to 24 years of age to compete, teen contestants have to be 13 to 17-years-old, and to compete on the state level a contestant must first win a local title.

Local pageants are held from Aug. 1 to mid-February, Edris said.

This year, four local women will be represented in the pageants. Katie Busby will represent Miss Delta State University in the Miss Mississippi Pageant, and Tori Ross, Emily Tingle and Addison Mathis will represent Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Heart of Dixie’s Outstanding Teen and Miss Pearl River Valley’s Outstanding Teen, respectively.

Locals who run the Miss Mississippi Pageant are volunteers, Edris said, and added theses volunteers are also instrumental in helping raise money that will go towards the scholarship funds.

This year, the Miss Mississippi Pageant will be held from June 24 through 27 at the Vicksburg Convention Center and events will include a parade, autograph signings, preliminary competitions and the crowning of the new Miss Mississippi.

“A lot of what we do mirrors the Miss Mississippi Pageant. We just teenage it up,” Fedell said.

Like the Miss Mississippi Pageant, the teens also compete in talent, evening gown, interview and an on-stage question, she said.

“The teens do not wear swimsuits. They wear workout outfits and demonstrate how high energy they are,” Fedell said.

Contestants in both the Miss Mississippi Pageant and the Miss Outstanding Teen Pageant must also promote a platform to compete.

“With these platforms, these young women do service work,” Fedell said, and platforms for teens can range from driving and texting to bullying.

“These young ladies get out there promoting their platform wearing that crown on their head, wearing that sash and representing their title. They are awesome. I have never seen so many young ladies working so hard,” Fedell said.

The Miss Mississippi Outstanding Teen Pageant will be held from June 4 through 6 and will be held at the Vicksburg City Auditorium. There are 23 contestants, and this year’s theme is Magic Show.