Miss Wayne County Scholarship Organization organizers are holding the second annual Miss Wayne County Princess Program.

The event is maintaining the mission of the scholarship program to help young women become successful leaders. The Princess Program is for girls ages 4-12.

Each princess will receive a tiara and sash and participate in the 2011 Miss Wayne County Pageant on Sept. 10 at Churchill High School in Livonia.

They will also be guests of honor at a Princess Tea Party at the Governor Warner Mansion in Farmington. Guests will include Miss Wayne County 2010 Sarah Suydam, the 2011 Miss Wayne County contestants, and Miss Oakland County Outstanding Teen 2011 Cassidy Nugent.

This program offers friendship and mentoring and is not a competition. The participation fee is $50. All fees support the Miss Wayne County Scholarship Organization.

Participants do not have to be a Wayne County residents. To apply, visit www.misswaynecounty.org.

Source:  Hometownlife.com

Sam Haskell, Chairman of the Board of the Miss America Organization, announced today that the 2012 Miss America Pageant will return to Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for a week of preliminary competitions, culminating in a live telecast on ABC, Saturday, January 14.

"The 90th anniversary Miss America Pageant on ABC was a tremendous success, taking the ratings crown as the most-watched non-sports program on Saturday night on ABC," stated Sam Haskell.   "With the success of our re-branding of Miss America, we have attracted a new audience and look forward to working with ABC and Planet Hollywood to make the 2012 broadcast event even more memorable for our viewers.”

The three nights of preliminaries will take place on January 10, 11 and 12 at Planet Hollywood's Theatre for the Performing Arts. Tickets for the preliminaries, as well as the Miss America Live Event will be available soon.  For information on all ticket sales visit www.missamerica.org.

"We are thrilled to be returning to Planet Hollywood again for our 7th consecutive year," said Art McMaster, President & CEO of the Miss America Organization. "While other cities have pursued hosting Miss America, Las Vegas along with Planet Hollywood and Caesars Entertainment have exceeded our expectations, and we will continue to build on the traditions created in Las Vegas."

Miss America has called Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino home since moving to Las Vegas from Atlantic City in 2006. Teresa Scanlan, of Gering, Nebraska is the 90th Anniversary Miss America.
 
For information on Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, please visit 
http://planethollywood.com.

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Applications are currently being accepted for the 2011 Miss Wayne County Scholarship Pageant, an official Miss America preliminary.

Any woman age 17-24 who lives, works full time or attends school full time in Wayne County is eligible to apply. Contestants will compete in the following categories: interview, lifestyle, swimsuit, evening gown, talent, and on stage question.

The winner will receive a cash scholarship and will represent Wayne County at the 2012 Miss Michigan Pageant to be held in Muskegon. The application deadline is Aug. 21. To apply online, visit www.misswaynecounty.org.

For more information, call (734) 367-0560 or e-mail SheilaMae116@aol.com.

Applications are also available for the Miss Wayne County Princess Program, a noncompetitive pageant experience open to girls ages 4-12. Visit www.misswaynecounty.org to apply.

The pageant is set for Sept. 10 at Livonia Churchill High School, 8900 Newburgh, Livonia.

Source:  HometownLife.com

It is with such great sadness we inform you of the passing of one of our most beloved Miss Americas, Miss America 1943 Jean Bartel.  Jean passed away on Sunday evening and although, she has passed, she will live forever in our hearts. 

We were so very proud and privileged to have Jean join us for our 90th anniversary celebration of the Miss America pageant in January and will cherish those moments that we had to spend with her.  From her participation in the events to her love and support of the program, Jean will always have a very special place in our hearts and this organization that she loved and served so well. 

In 1943 Jean took the commitment of a "War-Time" Miss America to heart, she embarked on a Bond-selling tour that would result in her being honored by the United States Treasury Department as the individual who had sold the most Series E Bonds that year. Jean was instrumental in posing the idea that Miss America should be awarded a college scholarship which has remained the hallmark of the Miss America Organization.

After serving her year as Miss America, Jean's remarkable talent enabled her to embark on a singing career, which included work on radio and television, two South American tours, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and in every State of the Union but Maine. Ultimately, her dream became a reality when Jean became the first Miss America to star in a Broadway musical- "Of Thee I Sing"- opposite Jack Carson.

Over the years, Jean has continued to be a great supporter of The Miss America Organization. She was a remarkable Miss America and a dedicated individual - committed to our Organization and has forever touched our hearts.  We offer our condolences and prayers to Jean’s family, her friends and especially to her Miss America sisters who she treasured so dearly.

Linwood, NJ - Jan. 20,2011 - The Miss America Organization announced today that the 2011 Miss America Pageant presented by DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse had a new reach of 14.6 million viewers on ABC, based on an average viewership of 6.7 million people, up 49 percent from last year.

The pageant, which aired from 9 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15, drew ABC's biggest non-sports audience in the timeslot since April 2009 and easily placed second to Fox for the night. The announcement of the 90th Anniversary Miss America, Teresa Scanlan, a 17-year-old from Nebraska and one of the youngest winners in the history of Miss America, kept ratings growing through the night despite the gridiron competition of two NFL Divisional Playoff games.

In the first half-hour of the telecast, Miss America was in third place with 5.25 million viewers, but for the remainder of the 2-hour live telecast (tape delayed on the West Coast), the pageant held onto second place for the night, with the audience growing to 7.85 million viewers.

MAO Chairman of the Board, Sam Haskell announced, “The Miss America Pageant’s return to ABC after six years on cable television was a nearly 50% audience increase over last year’s broadcast.  This was an outstanding performance in terms of audience growth with the help of our wonderful partners ABC, Tony Eaton with Tall Pony Productions, and our presenting sponsor DSW.  We thank them for their support of this 90th anniversary show that will now mark a new era for our organization.”

In addition, the 2011 Miss America Pageant was ranked 2nd in women aged 18-34!

"Miss America is back and stronger than ever as witnessed by over 14 million viewers this year," said President and CEO, Art McMaster. "We're so happy that everyone tuned into see the pageant back on ABC, and we are confident that Miss America’s audience will continue to grow with our network partner, ABC!"

Las Vegas, NV - January 15, 2011 - Miss Nebraska 2010 Teresa Scanlan from Gerig, Nebraska was crowned Miss America 2011 tonight at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The final night of the 90th Anniversary of the Miss America Pageant presented by DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse was broadcast live from Las Vegas on ABC.

Teresa's triumphant walk across the stage was just the beginning of a journey that will take her to every corner of the country during her year of service as Miss America 2011. She will travel approximately 20,000 miles each month speaking to audiences about her platform of Eating Disorders: A Generation at Risk, and acting as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals, is the national platform partner of the Miss America Organization.

In addition, Miss America 2011 will be the official spokesperson for Joseph Ribkoff International Clothing Company, who will provide Teresa with a full wardrobe for the year.

Teresa will be a student at Patrick Henry College. Her scholastic ambition is to attend law school and she ultimately hopes to become a judge and eventually a politician. Along with the title of Miss America 2011, Teresa won a $50,000 scholarship sponsored by Artistry exclusively by Amway to continue her education. For the talent portion of the competition, Teresa performed  "White Water Chopped Sticks" on the piano.