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Last updated on Monday, June 19, 2017
(JUDAH) - The 2017 Judah Heritage Festival Pageants are Tuesday night starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Little Theatre of Bedford.
There will be two pageants held that night for just $2. The first will be the teen age group where all the girls must reside in Lawrence County and attend BNL. There are 9 girls participating.
The second age group is 25 years and older. There are three contestants in this age group and they are Lynnette Prince from Mitchell, Jessica Cole from Bedford and Tiffany Burton from Paoli.
Kensi Allen is the reigning 2016 Judah Heritage Festival Queen. She is 19 years old and attending Ivy Tech Community College studying Elementary Education.
She said it was "awesome" to have been able to be the first Queen coming from Judah and that she wanted to set a good example to the girls competing this year.
"I think there is a lot of valuable lessons in wearing a crown and stuff like that and being a pageant girl. You know there are a lot of little girls and kids are looking up to you so I think its a big part to be a good role model. You know how you're supposed to act and dress and you knowhow to portray yourself. I think the girls seeing me doing that, hopefully they'll keep the chain going with the rest of the Judah queens," said Allen.
Allen will be passing down the crown to one of the 9 contestants in the teen competition.
"I met all the girls and they're really cool and sweet and it makes it easier to pass down the crown knowing that whoever gets this is going to represent Judah really, really well."
Heather Machida is the Judah Heritage Festival Pageant Director. She believes pageants are more than beauty contests.
She said, "All most every single one of them has the attitude of 'I'm not just a pretty girl. I'm also a leader and voice in my community '...and I think that's awesome for them to think that way."
The Judah Heritage Festival Pageant is also a fundraiser for the Lawrence County Cancer Patient Services and Phi Beta Psi, a 501 (c) (3). The $2 charge at the door will go to the two organizations as well as money that the contestants raised. There will also be jars with the contestants' names on them on stage. During intermission, attendees can put money in the jars to support their favorite contestant's fundraising efforts. The contestant that raised the most money will be awarded.
The Queen will be crowned on stage at the Judah Heritage Festival on Thursday on the main stage at 6 p.m.
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