The Miss Oglethorpe Pageant is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 15, at the Oglethorpe County High School auditorium. Tickets are $5 and must be purchased at the event.
Fifteen contestants will take the stage this Saturday at the eighth Miss Oglethorpe Scholarship Pageant. Although it was canceled in 2024 due to a lack of participation, the pageant is under new leadership this year.
“It could be beneficial to have a younger person, more get up and go with it, hopefully to expand it out even bigger than it was,” former longtime organizer Joanne Wrenn said.
Wrenn cited her granddaughter's graduation along with other personal commitments as reasons to pass the torch.
Cara Sexton, the new pageant director, has worked to regroup and make a few changes this year.
Sexton is an experienced pageant mom with her daughter, Azlynne, winning Miss Spirit of Oglethorpe in 2018. Azlynne continued in the Miss Oglethorpe pageant for a few years and even moved onto other external pageants around the state.
“There is a negative connotation when it comes to pageants and the pageant world,” Sexton said. “And it’s not about that. It’s more about how they present (themselves) on stage and their confidence and their poise.”
Sexton has secured three winning pageant queens to judge this year’s Miss Oglethorpe:
- Ava Colindres, Miss Georgia Teen USA 2024
- Deborah Tyra, Mrs. Global Continental Georgia 2024
- Kamryn Jaugstetter, USA National Miss Georgia 2025
The pageant will remain similar to the past, but now 2-year-olds and under have a specific category.
The 2025 pageant’s winners will be named for the following categories:
- Miss Future Oglethorpe (2 and under)
- Miss Preschool Oglethorpe (ages 3-4)
- Miss Oglethorpe Primary School (kindergarten through second grade)
- Miss Oglethorpe Elementary School (3rd-5th grade)
- Miss Oglethorpe Middle School (6th-8th grade)
- Miss Oglethorpe High School (9th-12th grade)
There are also specialty categories: Miss Red, White and Blue is awarded to the contestant who sells the most advertisements, and Miss Patriot Ambassador is awarded to the contestant who raises the most money through public voting.
Winners will receive a $100 cash scholarship at the end of their reign to be donated to their selected organization in the community. Any additional proceeds will go to the Athens Area Community Foundation.
“It’s really, honestly, a great opportunity for girls,” Sexton said. “I think it’s very important for them to learn how to give back to their community, how to serve in their community, without expecting anything in return for it.”