By Mindy Ragan Wood, Staff Writer – Young girls from toddlers to tweens will get a chance to sparkle and shine in an upcoming pageant.
The 2018 Little Miss Piedmont NW OKC & Heartland Pageant will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 21 at Piedmont Church of the Nazarene, 2011 Piedmont Road North.
Natasha Alikhani is a co-director for the pageant and former Miss Piedmont who said people are surprised to learn the pageant is open to contestants statewide.
“Anyone who meets the requirements can compete in our pageant and we chose to do that because we wanted more people to experience Piedmont. Opening it up statewide is a great way to do that. They buy tickets, and they see the town,” Alikhani said.
Contestants will be accepted ages three months to one year, ages one to three, four to six, seven to nine and 10 to 12. They will compete in casual wear, party wear, and Miss Photogenic among others.
“We try to give a lot of titles so almost everyone can get a flower or a crown,” Alikhani said.
Teens, ages 13 to 17, and adult contestants, ages 18 to 25, will compete in July. Their performances are judged in evening gown, talent, onstage questions, and swimsuit categories.
The local pageant circuit began in 2007 with an emphasis in community service and public platforms for their teen and adult title winners.
“Each of our girls has a platform. Miss Piedmont this year (Samantha Martin) is Pets and Partners and she works with different agencies that help pay for therapy pets. Ms. Piedmont’s Outstanding Teen (Abigail Billings) is doing Live Sun Smart. She lost her grandfather to skin cancer so she’s a spokesperson for that foundation. Ms. NW OKC (Catelin Morris) is about addiction. She works with a national campaign to help dispose of expired or unused medicine. Her family has a big experience with addiction, so her platform name is ‘A Dose of Prevention.’ Ms. NW OKC Teen (Ava Cruchon) has started her own foundation that teaches students how to get financial aid. Fifty billion dollars of FASA money was not collected last year, so she goes to schools and teaches them how to embrace education, get free scholarships and how to get through that process,” she said.
The pageant is not a “money maker,” she said.
The entry fees are low cost and are used to fund scholarships for the winners. Winners can go on to compete in the Miss Oklahoma pageant and if successful, the Miss America pageant.
Several local winners have come to close to winning the Miss Oklahoma title, including Alikhani who won in the talent category in 2010.
“Piedmont has been in the top five to Miss Oklahoma, overall talent winners, swimsuit winners and we’ve had some second and first runner up. Very consistently, they do very well. It’s nice to have the Piedmont title behind that.”
The goal, Alikhani said, is to prepare these young women for the real world.
“When I competed I really saw a change in myself every year. I enjoyed competing and I enjoyed figuring out what I was good at and what I needed to work on. Coaching these women prepares them for life. I never thought I would need interview skills, that volunteer hours would make that much of an impact on my future or my community. Getting these girls prepared, helping them better themselves and see them succeed is a joy.”
