Magnolia Community Foundation ponders bringing back Miss Magnolia Pageant

It has been three years since the last Miss Magnolia Pageant was hosted by the Magnolia Area Chamber of Commerce, but the Magnolia Community Foundation is looking to bring it back in 2013.

"I get calls constantly about why we don't have one," said MCF president Deborah Rose Miller. "It's really a chance for our students to engage with the community and improve their public speaking skills and their confidence."

Early plans for reviving the pageant involve incorporating it into the Magnolia Hometown Christmas and Holiday Parade on the second weekend in December.

"The girls can participate in the parade, which helps the chamber by adding to that event," Miller said. "That's an example of what [MCF] wants to do—we want to partner with the nonprofits and work together for the benefit of all."

Incorporating a special People's Choice award is also a possibility, Miller said. Attendees at the Magnolia Hometown Christmas would get the chance to vote for their own winner at the Historic Magnolia Depot the day of the event. The Miss Magnolia Pageant would take place later that evening at Magnolia High School.

While many details still have to be decided, Miller said she wants to make sure the scholarship aspect is still a part of the pageant.

"There's so much involved with that pageant and it means so much to the students that us not having one leaves a void," she said. "We have to bring it back."

The last Miss Magnolia Pageant took place on Feb. 13, 2010, when Magnolia West High School Senior Carter Ingram was crowned Miss Magnolia.