In conjunction with the 36th Annual Crawfish Festival, the Miss Orange County Pageant will be held on April 9 at the Mauriceville Elementary School. Girls ranging from five to 18 years old are participating with the hopes of being crowned either Miss Orange County, Jr. Miss, or Little Miss.

“I hope to make it a yearly tradition that many girls can look forward to participating in each and every year,” pageant director Beulah Willson said.

The Jr. Miss division is for girls ages nine to 13 years old and the Little Miss division is for ages five to eight years old. Girls from all counties will participate in the pageant.

“The younger girls will enjoy doing mom and daughter things and get to dress up and feel like a princess for the day,” Willson said.

For the Miss Orange County division, freshmen through seniors will compete from LCM, West Orange Stark, Vidor, Deweywille, and Orangefield. The winner will not only earn the title, but will also be awarded a $500 scholarship.

Willson said the anonymous judges will come from different counties and will look for poise, maturity and willingness to participate in the pageant.

“I expect to see young ladies demonstrate a desire for college, or professionalism, as well as poise,” Willson said.

The festivities will start at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. The winners from the pageant will ride in the Crawfish Festival Parade the following Saturday.