25 girls between the ages of 7 and 17 will be in Chadron on Sunday for the 2013 Miss Chadron Outstanding Teen and Little Miss Chadron Pageant. The pageant begins at 3:00 in the Chadron High School auditorium, with tickets available at the door for $5 each, with children 8 and under free.

Miss Nebraska Mariah Cook and Miss Nebraska Outstanding Teen Lianna Prill will be the co-hosts and will entertain along with the three outgoing local Outstanding Teen title holders…Miss Chadron Sara Richter, Miss Northwest Emerie Gifford, and Miss Dawes County Allie Boggs.

Pageant coordinator Riki Cornish Hunter is excited by the number of contestants, which allows her to offer 4 crowns: Miss Chadron and Miss Northwest Outstanding Teen and Little Miss Chadron and Miss Northwest. The Outstanding Teen Contestants are between 13 and 17, the Little Miss Contestants are 7-to-10.

The Outstanding Teen program is part of the Miss America system and was started in the last decade as a training ground for possible Miss America contestants.

It’s judging is the same as for Miss America with the exception that the swimsuit is replaced by a physical fitness demonstration category.

The Little Miss Chadron and Little Miss Northwest titles are not part of the Miss America system. Hunter says she got the idea for them after judging at a local contest in Hot Springs back in February and discovering that it…and many other South Dakota pageants…offered Little Miss competitions as local fundraisers

Hunter…herself a 2-time Miss Nebraska contestant…is quick to add that while her Little Miss competitions and those in South Dakota do give the young girls a taste of pageant life, the events are nothing little those seen on reality tv shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras.

There will be no talent competition, no evening gowns, just the girls walking on stage, doing a little modeling, and answering a question such as why they chose their favorite color or their best friend.

The winners of the Little Miss pageant will receive a crown, sash, trophy and bouquet and will represent Chadron and Northwest Nebraska for a year.

The winners of the Outstanding Teen titles will get the same things, but will also receive paid entry to the Miss Nebraska Outstanding Teen pageant held in North Platte in conjunction with the Miss Nebraska Pageant in June. The state winner will advance to the Miss America Outstanding Teen pageant later in the summer in Orlando, Florida.

Three of Sunday’s 9 Outstanding Teen contestants are from Gering…Brittany Eckerberg, Holly Walker, and Jessica Helt…while two are from Mitchell…Alexis McGlone and Chloe McGlynn. The others are Mariclaire Prill of Holdrege, Alex O’Connor of Keystone, Bryttnee Lemmon of Crawford and Mikaela Hastings of Chadron.

Chadron, understandably, provides the lion’s share of the Little Miss contestants – 9 of them…Gracie Jones, Alyssa Snyder, Sarah Smith, Brinnley Hudson, Hollie Morsett, Aliyah Mills, Tatum Bailey, Kennedy Trueblood, and Aspen Graves.

Three are from Crawford…Megan Wendland and sisters Carly and Hannah Lemmon…and two are from Alliance..Shaylee Messersmith and Chloe Blumanthal. Rounding out the field are Jadyn Wetherington of Mitchell and Paige McCannon of Keystone.