Miss River Valley Callie Scherrey won the Preliminary Talent Award and Miss Boomtown Blair Wortsmith captured the Preliminary Evening Gown Award. Miss Diamond Lakes Brooke Bradford won the Preliminary On-Stage Conversation Award and Miss Historic Batesville Camille Cathey won the Preliminary Healthy and Fitness Award on Tuesday, the opening night of the 85th Annual Miss Arkansas Competition at Robinson Center in Little Rock. For winning Talent, Scherrey will receive a $2,000 scholarship provided by the Miss Arkansas Hall of Fame Inductees. She performed an acro jazz dance to “That’s Life” for her talent.
Wortsmith will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Evening Gown provided by Emerge and Renee Stone.
Cathey will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Health and Fitness provided by Traci Hogue – Fence Brokers and the family of Marty Walker.
Bradford will receive a $1000 scholarship for winning On-Stage Conversation provided by Traci Lewellen in honor of Miss Arkansas 2019/2020 Darynne Dahlem.
For more information on our preliminary winners please visit missarkansas.org. Emcees for this year’s Miss Arkansas Competition are Chris Kane and Miss Arkansas 2009 Sarah Slocum Collins.
Ashton Campbell Gill was the emcee for the Miss Arkansas’ Teen Pageant held during the afternoon. She was Miss Arkansas 2014 and 2nd Runner Up to Miss America, as well as Miss Arkansas’ Outstanding Teen 2011.
Miss Arkansas 2022 Ebony Mitchell and Miss Arkansas' Teen 2022 Ka’Mya Tackett were on hand to present the awards.
Preliminary Awards given in this afternoon’s Teen Competition were:
· Preliminary Talent Award - $333 scholarship sponsored by Classic Cutters & F.A.D.D. (Families Against Distracted Driving) Foundation – Greater Jonesboro’s Teen Sophie Puckett. She performed a tap dance to “Blue Suede Shoes” for her talent.
· Preliminary Evening Gown Award -$250 scholarship sponsored by Hannah Wright from The Royal We: Ouachita River’s Teen Allie Bell
· Preliminary Fitness Award - $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Organization – Greater Jacksonville’s Teen Kinley Atkinson
Additional Miss Arkansas Scholarship Winners announced were:
Alpha Talent Award, in the amount of $500, given by Micki Petrus Konecny and Studio Allegro – Arkansas State University Riley Strube
Alpha Evening Gown Award, in the amount of $500, given by Hannah Wright at The Royal We – Boomtown Blair Wortsmith
Alpha On Stage Conversation Award, in the amount of $500, given by Center Stage Strategies – Diamond Lakes Brooke Bradford
Alpha Private Interview for the Mu Group, in the amount of $500, given by Jordan Carter & Courtney Allen– Boomtown Blair Wortsmith
Alpha Private Health and Fitness Award, in the amount of the $500, given by Pafford Health Services – Historic Batesville Camille Cathey
Confidently You Award, in the amount of $500, given by Matthew and Sarah Inman in memory of Kennedy Nida – South Central Arkansas Bailey Gibson
Alpha Arrival Award, in the amount of $500 given by Faces by Stephanie – South Central Arkansas Bailey Gibson
Healthy Lifestyle Platform Award, in the amount of $500, given by Sharon Turentine – Greater Little Rock Sophe Sligh
Service Above Self Award for Mu Group, in the amount of $500 given by Faces by Stephanie– Dogwood Kennedy Holland
Hardin Bale Inspirational Male Scholarship, in the amount of $1000 scholarship, selected by the reigning Miss Arkansas and given by the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Foundation – Will Potts
He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas and is a U.S. Marine Corp Veteran. A 1st Year teacher at Harrison High School who leads the DECA Program, Potts is currently pursuing his second master’s degree from Southern Arkansas University. Potts was chosen for his commitment to community service and his activism.
Additional Miss Arkansas' Teen Awards given this afternoon were:
STAR Award in Memory of Muriel Cathey – $600 scholarship given by Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen 2018 Camille Cathey and selected by the reigning Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen: Ozark Highland’s Teen Klaire Holland
Alpha Arrival Award – $250 scholarship given by the Miss Arkansas Executive Director’s Association – Ozark Mountain’s Teen Delaney Reddell
Alpha Fitness Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Organization – Greater Jacksonville’s Teen Kinley Atkinson
Alpha Evening Gown Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association: Ozark Mountain’s Teen Delaney Reddell
Alpha Talent Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association – Ozark Highland’s Teen Klaire Holland. For her talent she performed a vocal ventriloquism to “Cowboy’s Sweetheart.”
Additional information on the Teen and Miss contestants can be found at missarkansas.org.
Competition continues with preliminaries on Wednesday and Thursday. Miss Arkansas’ Teen preliminaries begin at 3:00 p.m. and Miss begins at 7:00 p.m.
Final competition for the Teens will be Friday, June 9th . The crowning for Miss Arkansas 2023 is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 10th live on KARK / KNWA.
For ticket information please visit www.ticketmaster.com or the Robinson Center box office.
For those who can’t attend the 2023 Miss Arkansas competition you can watch each preliminary competition using the link at www.missarkansas.org.
Photo Credit: Danny Barger Photography