The Miss Troy Pageant will be held on April 18 at the Claudia Crosby Theater on the campus of Troy University.

The pageant is a Miss National Peanut Festival preliminary event and the winner will represent the city of Troy in the national pageant in October 2009.

The contestants must be at least 17 years of age but not over 21 years on the date of the Miss National Peanut Festival Pageant preliminaries on Oct. 2.

The contestants must reside in Troy or attend school in Troy and cannot have previously competed in the Miss National Peanut Festival Pageant.

Contestants must be of good moral character and have never been married.

“The Miss Troy Pageant will begin at be at 3 p.m. on April and all contestants will be required to attend practice on the day of the pageant,” said Brenda Campbell, a pageant coordinator. “Contestants will be judged on interview, verbal communication and evening gown modeling. The interview will be private with a panel of judges. In the verbal communication portion of the interview, the contestants will draw a topic and have one minute to discuss that topic on stage. The individual contestants will model their evening gowns on stage.”

Contestants should at the Claudia Crosby Theater at 1 p.m. prepared for their interviews. Interviews and evening gown modeling practice will begin at 1:30 p.m. and the evening gown modeling will be at 3 p.m.

Pageant entry forms are available by calling 670-3178 or via e-mail at bcamp@troy.edu. Forms also may be picked up in Room 111 of the Adams Administration building on the Troy University campus.

Miss Troy 2008 Morgan Rhodes said her reign has been a memorable and exciting experience.

“It was an honor to represent my hometown and a wonderful experience,” she said. “It was a lot of responsibility but it was worth all of the time and effort. I got to meet people here in Troy that I would probably never have known otherwise and to be a part of many events.”

Rhodes represented Troy in a variety of events and several parades. She had an opportunity to meet new members of the business community and community leaders at the grand opening of businesses. But her representation of the City of Troy didn’t end there. She also represented her hometown at the Miss National Peanut Festival.

“‘Peanut’ was a great experience, too,” Rhodes said.

“Fifty girls from all across the state and parts of Georgia and Florida competed. I got to talk to at least half of them and made some lifelong friendships. But one of my favorite and most memorable experiences was getting to read to children at a Dothan elementary school. I read to grades kindergarten through five and it was one of the best experiences I had as Miss Troy.

“I would certainly recommend the Miss Troy Pageant to all of those that are qualified to enter. It’s a lot of fun and a great experience for all of the contestants.”