Six talented young women are vying to take home the Miss Pahrump Pageant crown this year.
The event returns to the Saddle West Showroom on Saturday, Aug. 14.
In existence for more than 40 years, the pageant, founded by late Pahrump businessman Ray Wulfenstein, was canceled last year out of safety concerns due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
As stated on the pageant’s social media page, any young woman from the ninth through 12th grade, and between the ages of 13 through 18, are invited to participate.
Talent galore
Pageant organizer Judy Maughan said the contestants will be judged in five categories, which include casual wear, formal wear, and the oftentimes nerve-wracking on-stage question.
“There’s a variety of talents and they will each perform a talent and they will each answer the same onstage question,” Maughan said. “They will not know ahead of time what the question is. Immediately before the onstage interview question, our emcee will pull one question out of the bowl and he will ask the same question to each girl. Only one girl will be in the showroom at a time, so no one else will hear that question, so it keeps it very fair across the board, and we always keep them non-political.”
Masking issues
As physical appearances are indeed a factor in most pageants, Maughan spoke about how facial coverings will affect the event.
“They won’t be wearing masks when they are all on stage together,” she noted. “We have permission for them to not wear masks when they are on stage for their individual events. We are just following the guidelines that are passed down to Saddle West because we’re using their venue. We don’t want to risk them having any problems because of us. Whatever they need us to do is what we will do, and they have allowed us to have the girls not wear their masks when they’re on stage. We did buy them some nice matching, black glittery masks.”
Virus crisis
Additionally, Maughan expressed her displeasure regarding the cancellation of last year’s pageant due to COVID-19 concerns.
The current reigning Miss Pahrump 2019 is Aliya Bolton, who will crown this year’s winning contestant.
“It was very disappointing because we really tried to put on the pageant,” she said. “Saddle West really wanted to host it, but their hands were tied, so they could not have events during that time. There were a few girls who missed out, and they had been in the pageant previously. They were seniors this past year, so it’s unfortunate that they missed that last year that they could have done it. There were some talented girls and I really felt bad that they missed out on that last opportunity, but our rules do say that you have to be a freshman through senior to participate in the pageant.”
A shout-out
On a final note, Maughan wanted to give thanks to the pageant’s sponsors and others who provided donations to put on the event.
“Saddle West is always very gracious to us and they provide us with the venue at no charge,” she noted. “They are always very kind to us in working things out. Saitta-Trudeau is a presenting sponsor. They give us a large donation, and it truly makes the pageant possible so that we can put on this experience for the girls. We have many sponsors though and they are always listed and shown in the program. We appreciate all of them very much for whatever they contributed toward this because our goal is to just put on a really positive experience for these girls. Because of these donations that people are so generous to give us, we can do that.”
General seating tickets for the Miss Pahrump Pageant are $10, while VIP seating is $15.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the pageant beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes