Photo courtesy of Jessica Bodge

Jessica Bodge is the new state director of the Little Miss of America Pageant. The first preliminary pageant is for Mukilteo. Above, Bodge is Miss Seattle of the Miss America Pageant in 1994.

This weekend, eight lucky girls will be crowned Miss Mukilteo for the Little Miss of America Pageant, to then go on to the state pageant for the chance of a lifetime.

 

The Mukilteo Little Miss of America Pageant is scheduled from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Edmonds Seventh Day Adventist Church, at 8625 196th St. S.W., Edmonds.

 

Girls with the title will represent Mukilteo in the state pageant and make appearances in the city. Mukilteo’s is the first preliminary pageant.

 

“I want to go to state and have people know what Mukilteo is,” said Director Jessica Bodge, of Mukilteo. “It’s this beautiful place to live, and we’ve got beautiful, talented, smart girls.”

 

The pageant has been around since the 1980s, with the purpose of helping get contestants’ talents discovered by talent agents. After a 14-year hiatus, Little Miss of America is back in Washington state with a new director.

 

Little Miss of America is a natural pageant, meaning the judges are looking for natural beauty and discourage girls from wearing too much makeup and otherwise “overdoing it.”

 

“A lot of bad rap goes around with pageants due to the controversial ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ show,” said Bodge, who competed as a teenager in Little Miss of America. “Reality is, natural beauty and scholarship pageants have a lot to teach and offer young girls.”

 

She said pageants are a fun way to help girls gain public speaking and interview skills, self-confidence and self-esteem, help them polish their talents and get discovered – plus they can travel and meet exceptional girls from all over.

 

The pageant is for girls, ages 0-18, and has eight age divisions. It is an open pageant. No experience is necessary.

 

 “A lot of girls that enter the preliminary pageant have never had any pageant experience at all, so… we have to teach them how to walk, how to stand, how to be graceful,” Bodge said. “There’s so much that we have to teach them.”

 

The girls compete in an interview/playtime, party/formal wear and sportswear categories. Optional categories include talent, swimsuit, beauty, photogenic, best hair and best personality.

 

A preliminary pageant will be held each month in various Washington cities to recruit contestants for the state and national pageants this summer. For the pageants schedule, go to www.walittlemissofamerica.com.

 

Talent scouts will be judging the pageant and will be there to discover girls’ talents.

 

“If they like somebody well enough, they’ll take a chance on them,” said Danette Sawin, former state director. “That’s all that it takes is a chance.”

 

Throughout the years, girls have won agent contracts for modeling, commercial, TV and movie opportunities.

 

 “We had a lot of successes with our girls up here,” Sawin said.

 

Her own daughter Stacie, now 26, competed in the Little Miss of America Pageant for about 11 years and is a pageant success story.

 

Stacie was a national talent winner for another pageant at age 6, which led to an international career in modeling and TV commercials. She won her first beauty title when she was 16.

 

She was also next in line to play the part of Mia in “The Princess Diaries” against Anne Hathaway.

 

“‘The Princess Diaries’ was the icing on the cake,” Sawin said. “It was just like ‘Whoa.’ We didn’t realize what it [meant] until the movie came out.”

 

She said the pageant is a great way to get your daughter’s talent out there at a state and national level – without ripping you off.

 

“There are a lot of scams out there,” Sawin said.

 

As state director, Sawin held the pageant at the Rosehill Community Center for several years. Bodge was one of her queens.

 

“This isn’t one of those pageants that takes your money and runs… hopefully the parents will walk out of there with an education on the business.”

 

Winners receive crowns and other preliminary prizes. All contestants receive a participation ribbon and gift bag.

 

“The whole goal of it is to win self-esteem, to discover hidden talent, also just helping girls become more mature, better women,” Bodge said.

 

Bodge has had years of pageant experience. She has about 30 crowns from competing as a teenager and once after she married. She has five state titles for Miss Washington.

 

She was also Miss Seattle and Miss Des Moines and second runner-up to Miss Washington in the Miss America pageant in 1994. She was also a national talent winner and state talent and swimsuit winner.

 

Once married, she competed for Mrs. Washington and was the first runner-up.

 

She has judged numerous local and state pageants and has helped prepare contestants for their talent competition in the area of piano.

 

Bodge paid for college with pageant scholarships, and went on to model and appear on TV. She has also won several state and national piano competitions.

 

“I had this great talent, but I was terrified to play in front of anybody,” she said. “[Pageants] helped me to overcome my fear of playing piano in front of an audience, and is what led to me being able to be a piano teacher who performs easily now.”

 

She opened the Bodge Music Academy in Mukilteo and has been teaching piano for more than 14 years. Find information about music lessons or pageant coaching at www.bodgemusicacademy.com.   

 

Bodge said her love for pageants and what they can do for girls has inspired her to direct the state pageant.

 

“I missed the whole pageant scene, and I remembered what it did for me,” she said. “It did a lot for me.”
Register now or until Jan. 29 for $75 by calling 425-770-1019 or going online to www.walittlemissofamerica.com.