Miss Greater Rockville Pageant Declared an Open Competition

The 2013 pageant Miss Greater Rockville Pageant has been declared open, executive director Terri Rogers said.

Teens and young women from around the state will be accepted as contestants and, as a local affiliate of the Miss America Corporation, the pageant will be accepting additional competitors for the “Miss” and “Outstanding Teen” categories.

"The reason behind this change is to encourage more contestants to participate," she said in a news release.

The pageant did recruit locally and there are currently four Miss contestants and five Teen contestants. The Miss Connecticut Scholarship
Corporation, which presides over local competitions, requires a
minimum of four Miss contestants in order to name a titleholder. In the event that one competitor drops out for any reason before the pageant, this event would not be able to take place, Rogers said.

There is no fee to be a contestant for the Miss portion of the program but there is a fee of $125 for participation in the Teen event.

"I really think the way we've opened the competition is the best of both worlds. Miss Greater Rockville 2013 will be selected from a pool of local young ladies, while competitors from around the state are now eligible to compete for the title of Miss Tolland County 2013," said Katlyn Lewicke, the reigning Miss Greater Rockville. "This will give the Miss Greater Rockville Scholarship Organization, a young local in the Miss America system, more exposure and will help grow the program to make it even more successful in future years."

Anyone interested in the pageant can contact Rogers at tslingback@comcast.net or 857-222-8649.

This year's pageant is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, at
Rockville High School. The inclement weather date is the following day.

For more information, go to: www.rockvillecommunityalliance.org or www.rockvllect.org.

"Miss Greater Rockville and Miss Tolland County 2013, as well as Miss Greater Rockville's Outstanding Teen, will have a wonderful year of appearance and service opportunities at their feet starting with their first interviews the night they are crowned," Lewicke said. "I'm so excited for the girls to continue to promote this fantastic program and to form an even closer bond with the Rockville and Vernon areas, which are filled with some of the most wonderful, supportive, and humbling people I have ever met. The end of a reign is naturally bittersweet, but I can sincerely say I will miss making my frequent appearances around town. I can only hope to continue to be considered an honorary member of the Rockville community."