I am already tired, and Pageant Week has not even begun — pardon that I refer to the Miss Mississippi Competition as a pageant.

Those who decided on the new and improved Miss America 2.0 have made my life a challenge. After writing “pageant” stories for more than 10 years, it has been arduous for an old dog to learn new tricks.

And no doubt, next week I will probably unintentionally make a mistake, so please, for any of those with Miss Mississippi authority, just know I am trying.

So, back to being tired.

Covering the competition is exhausting, because it is pretty much a non-stop week of activities.

I personally don’t know how those that volunteer to help out do it.

My hat is off to all of them, from Miss Mississippi Corporation executive director David Blackledge who has led the charge and been involved for more than 30 years, to the stage crew who help pick up and pack up after the crowning.

The Miss Mississippi Competition is one of Vicksburg’s crowning jewels with a history that dates back to 1958 when Mary Ann Mobley was crowned the first Miss Mississippi in the River City. Mobley went on to become Miss America and was followed by Miss Mississippi Linda Lee Mead, who won the national title the following year. Since then, two more Miss Mississippis crowned in Vicksburg went on to become Miss America — Cheryl Prewitt in 1980 and Susan Akin in 1986.

Things have certainly changed since then — and not just the Miss America 2.0 verbiage.

The competition is a professional production and is televised throughout the state and in more recent years, it has been livestreamed.

Also, candidates have “social impact statements” and the scholarship dollars awarded are massive.

The way The Vicksburg Post covers the competition has also changed a bit. While we still report on preliminary winners and do an interview with the newly crowned Miss Mississippi, we have been dabbling in social media coverage.

Last year, for the first time, we did Facebook live interviews with the preliminary winners and the new Miss Mississippi.

Plans are to do it again, and this year I am very excited our Vicksburg Post intern will be helping us out in this endeavor.

Tat Ross, who is a tiny little thing, is a student at Jackson State University and she will be videoing the night of the competitions as well as capturing some behind-the-scenes footage.

I think this will bring not only a youthful element to our coverage, but for those who are not as familiar with the Miss Mississippi Competition, I think it could be interesting.

So be on the look out for our Facebook live posts, and you can also view them on our website, vicksburgpost.com.

Oh, and after I do the interview with the new Miss Mississippi next Sunday after she has been crowned and write my story, I think I may take a couple of days off and just sleep.