Director's Corner

WHITE LAKE WATER

FESTIVAL PAGEANT

The White Lake Water Festival Pageant is held in May each year. It is in conjunction with the White Lake Water Festival. The Water Festival began years ago as the Blueberry Festival, which is now held in Ammon each year. The White Lake Water Festival was born 27 years ago, with the rebirth of the White Lake Water Festival Pageant in more recent years.  For a couple of years the pageant wasn't held due to lack of interest. However, in 1996, I asked the committee to let me try to get it started again.  We started out with 5 divisions and grew to 6, and now 7 with the addition of Ambassador.  We have decided not to have the Sweetheart division due to lack of interest. It has been a success since then with many wonderful respresentatives, so now we are back down to 6 divisions.

I have had more than 80 titleholders in the years that I have been doing this pageant, along with titleholders of the North Carolina Tobacco Festival of Clarkton Pageant. I have had girls and mothers come back to me later on and tell me that their daughter has grown socially and spiritually by just being in this pageant. I had one girl in particular that had never done a pageant before. She came onto the pageant scene as a shy, timid 13 year old. She went on to become  a cheerleader, was in student government and  in honors classes at her school. She is now a college freshman at the University of Chapel Hill and was one of  60 that was chosen to participate in a Summer Bridge Program. She is also the recipient of the $10,000 Presidential Scholarship presented by the Lamar Advertising plants across the country. Her mother speaks highly of the experience that she had while she held her title. (You can read her story on the Home Page.)

I can't say that this pageant is like a lot of other pageants because we don't have a main benefactor that we support. We do have a mission in mind-to educate the people of North Carolina about the "Nation's Safest Beach", White Lake. White Lake has been represented from Havelock to Blowing Rock, from Murphy to Manteo. Click on the White Lake tab to learn more about the most beautiful lake in the nation.

This is a fun-filled, family pageant and we provide beautiful prizes for our winners. Winners make appearances in parades, festivals, pageants and other special events. After spending a year (or more) with these girls, they become an extended family and you have a special bond forever. Sometimes it's hard to let them go. They will always be "My Girls".

COMPETITION & AWARDS

Competition

Age Groups, Competition and Requirements are as follows for the 5 categories:

*Tiny Miss, ages 3-5, short pageant dress

*Little Miss, ages 6-9, short pageant dress

*Junior Miss, ages 10-12, long pageant dress, on-stage interview

*Princess, ages 13-16, long princess-style gown, on-stage interview

*Queen, ages 17-22, unmarried, long evening gown, on-stage interview

Queen contestants must not have ever been married.  Interview questions come from a pre-approved list.

Competition Notes: When entering this pageant, there are a few things to remember. We expect little girls to look like little girls. We discourage lots of make up, if any, on little girls. Please remember to keep jewelry to a minimum on all contestants and it should not overpower the contestant. Hair and make up on older contestants should reflect their natural beauty.

OPTIONALS & AWARDS: There is an optional photogenic category for all age divisions. You may enter one photo only. Depending on the number of entrants, one winner will be chosen. If there are more than half of the contestants in the pageant entering this category, there will be two winners chosen. Winners in the photogenic category will receive a trophy. Photogenic winner will have no bearing on the division winners.

All non placing contestants will receive a trophy. Nobody goes home empty handed. Runners up will receive trophies in descending sizes. Division winners will receive round rhinestone crowns, large trophy, flowers, and a portrait gift certificate from Kinlaw Studios. The winner of the Queen division will receive a $250 scholarship check to the school of her choice.

AMBASSADOR: The Ambassador category is for reigning queens only. The Water Festival Pageant Committee has implemented a point system for the reigning queens. For every mandatory event that they attend, they receive 2 points. For anything that is not mandatory, they receive 1 point. At the end of their reign, all the points are tallied up and whoever has the most, gets the Ambassador award and will reign for another year.

Our queens are expected to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of their title and crown. There is a contract that must be signed and all rules and regulations must be followed or actions will be taken for misconduct. There are mandatory events that the queens are expected to attend throughout the year. They must also come back the next year to crown the next queen. If there is any doubt in your mind about what is expected of you should you win, please feel free to ask, but do so before entering the pageant. After winning, you will be expected to act accordingly and any misconduct will come with equal circumstance. Each queen is asked to purchase a title T shirt and magnetic car signs. We hope you will think about joining us for an experience of a lifetime.