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Jody Barker
Miss Liberty Pageants and contests for w o m e n are a promi- contestants for the pageant. The judges, consisting nent part of America from the small town home- of faculty, administration and two seniors, then coming queen to Miss U S A . From the time they interview each girl personally and select the top walk until they are married, contestants participate ten finalists w h o are announced at the pageant. in several of these pageants, competing for money, The judges further consider their performance prizes, scholarships, and the honor of holding the while on stage to narrow them to five. The Liberty title. students in attendance at the pageant are given the Liberty also has its form of a pageant. It is called final task of voting for one of the five finalists. the Miss Liberty Pageant. It originally started in After the votes are tallied, the n e w Miss Liberty is 1974, and the title w a s Liberty H o m e c o m i n g Queen. crowned. The homecoming pageant continued for four years. The Miss Liberty Pageants have become In 1978 it became k n o w n as the Miss Liberty Pag- larger and larger. Originally they were held at eant. T h o m a s Road Baptist Church, but in 1984, Bev Lamar Keener, then Dean of C o m m u t i n g Stu- Buffington m o v e d them to the Multipurpose Cendents, started the pageants in 1978. It w a s created to ter for reasons of convenience and seating. Bev honor a girl at Liberty not only for her physical ap- Buffington is the head of activities at Liberty and is pearance, but also for her personality, involvement, the sole producer of the Miss Liberty Pageant. Beachievements, academic ability, Christian testi- cause of the growth of the pageant, it has drawn in m o n y and service. She w a s to best exemplify the some very successful and famous people for hosts "Spirit of Liberty" and possess the virtues of a godly and hostesses like Karen Morrison, Gary McSpadw o m a n spoken of in Proverbs 31. den, Kay DeKalb, Meredith M c R a e , K i m Boyce, Most of the qualifications and procedures have Roger Breland, and Kelly Cash. remained the same through the years. Miss Liberty This year w a s the twelfth annual pageant. It has to be a single, senior girl whose cumulative has become a prominent event in the homecoming grade point average is 2.75 or above. Each senior activities. It has grown and changed from its startchooses 10 girls w h o they feel best exemplify the ing point, but it still serves the purpose for which "Spirit of Liberty." The top fifty names are then it w a s created. passed to the faculty w h o narrow them to the 24 Shellie Heckathorn Liberty