A former Miss Oklahoma contestant is hoping to start a new pageant tradition in Mooreland.
Hometown girl Jennica Kinney has organized a Little Miss Firecracker competition to be held in conjunction with Mooreland’s Independence Day celebrations.
The competition, which is for girls aged 8- to 12-years-old, will be held on July 3 at 7 p.m. in the Mooreland High School Auditorium.
The girls will be competing in four different areas, Kinney said. For the casual wear and party dress portions of the contest, she said the girls must show their patriotic spirit by wearing either red, white or blue. The girls will also be asked to answer a question about the 4th of July in an on-stage interview, she said.
However, for the talent portion, Kinney said the girls are not limited to the patriotic theme. The talent that will be on display at this inaugural pageant will include a musical performance, dancing and karate, she said.
Kinney said she developed the idea for the pageant with her mother Melinda Kinney.
“Mom and I enjoy doing pageants,” she said. “Mom enjoyed seeing how much it helped me when I competed and we had heard of other towns that do Little Miss Firecracker or similar competitions, so we thought we would do one for Mooreland.”
Kinney said she wanted to focus on the pre-teen age group, because “eight to 12 is such a crucial time for young girls to learn who they are, start developing their talents and that self-confidence.”
Pageants can help girls do all these things, she said, noting that being on stage and developing a stage presence can help girls get over any shyness they might have as well as allow them to develop their public speaking skills.
Also the interview portion of the competition, which is done off-stage with just the panel of judges, not only encourages self-reflection so that the girls think about what is truly important to them but also “teaches young kids to think on their feet,” Kinney said.
Her overall goal is for each of the girls who competes to walk away “feeling like a winner,” she said.
With only four girls participating this first year, Kinney said that each girl will walk away with a prize of some sort, such as a bouquet of flowers. Each girl will also get to perform their talents for the crowd at Mooreland’s 4th of July celebration at Mooreland City Park on Friday, she said.
The girl who wins Little Miss Firecracker will also receive a crown and sash as well as the honor of representing Mooreland in any parades over the next year, she said.
Besides helping the girls, Kinney said she also wanted to organize the event to help her hometown.
“Any time we can make new traditions for Mooreland, it’s great,” she said, noting that “hopefully (the pageant) will be a good tradition that will last.”
Since admission to the pageant is free, Kinney said she “hope(s) a lot of people will come and show support for the girls.”
