Liz's Notebook: 17 vie for Miss Hilton Head, Miss Coastal Islands titles
Update: Tweets from the pageant:
Seventeen pageant hopefuls danced in the lobby of Hilton Head Island High School's Seahawk Cultural Center on Friday night to Demi Lovato's "Confident."
Over and over, they ran through the steps while one at a time each rehearsed her talent onstage for the 2016 Miss Hilton Head Island Scholarship Pageant, which will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday in the school auditorium.
The teens and young women are in competition for the Miss Hilton Head Island and Miss Hilton Head Island Teen crowns, along with two new titles added this year, Miss Coastal Islands and Miss Coastal Islands Teen.
The pageant is coordinated by Harry Culpepper and Jeremy Culpepper, both of Bluffton. This the fifth year for the local contingent of the Miss America Scholarship Pageant. The Culpeppers will guide the winners on their path to the state contest.
"Every day you will get a message from me," Jeremy Culpepper told the potential winners before rehearsal started. "Every day I expect to you respond."
"I like to win," he said to nervous laughs.
Nine of the contestants are from Hilton Head or Bluffton, the highest number of local participants so far.
Last year, controversy arose when area residents learned that 2015 Miss Hilton Head Kate McKinney was from Columbia.
"It just struck me as funny," Hilton Head resident Mark Brittman emailed The Island Packet in 2015. "Are there not enough qualified contestants?
McKinney went on to win second-runner up in the Miss South Carolina pageant. She and Miss Hilton Head Island Teen Sarah Hamrick (of Spartanburg) became familiar faces on Hilton Head and in Bluffton over the past year, attending festivals and fundraisers.
Hamrick is the reigning Miss South Carolina Teen.
Local teen contestants this year are Nicole Arnold, Emily Workman, Anna Thomas, all of Hilton Head; and Delaney Black of Bluffton.
Local Miss contestants are Elizabeth Kenyon, Claudia Swidzinski, Briana Hernandez and Kristin Staufer, all of Hilton Head; and Hannah Weitzel of Bluffton.
Winners will be posted on islandpacket.com on Saturday night.
Follow columnist and senior editor Liz Farrell at twitter.com/elizfarrell and facebook.com/elizfarrell.
This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 9:30 PM with the headline "Liz's Notebook: 17 vie for Miss Hilton Head, Miss Coastal Islands titles."