The first Lawrence County Miss Memorial Day Pageant will be at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Bowman Auditorium of Ohio University Southern in order to raise money for the Memorial Day Parade Committee.

“I’m so proud that our county parade has been organized for 147 years,” Yvonne DeKay, owner of Yvonne DeKay School of Dance and co-creator of the pageant, said. “I wondered how they continued to pay for things like all of the flags and the decorating of the veterans’ graves every year and found out it was all through donations. I presented this idea to the parade committee and they thought it was a great idea. All funds raised will go right to the Memorial Day Parade Committee for the parade.”

DeKay and Cyndi Roth of Cyndi’s Dance Studio came up with the idea of having the pageant and hope to continue it as a way to raise money for the Memorial Day Parade every year, DeKay said.

Contestants participating in the pageant will be judged on appearance, showmanship and poise modeling party dress attire of their choice. Each will be asked a question about celebrating Memorial Day as well.

The categories for the pageant include Mini Miss for girls 4-6, Junior Miss for girls 7-9, Pre-Teen Miss for girls 10-12, Teen Miss for girls 13-15, Miss for girls 16-20, and Special Princess for girls with disabilities age 14-18. The pageant will start with the oldest division and work its way down.

All winners in each division will receive a crown, banner and trophy. Runner-up trophies and trophies for participating will also be given.

“Every kid in the pageant will receive a trophy,” DeKay said. “The parade committee also said that the winners will be able to ride in the parade.”

The cost to enter the pageant is $35 and the deadline to sign up is Friday. There is also a $5 admission fee to get into the pageant. For more information or to sign up, call DeKay at 740-550-9393 or Roth at 740-646-4948.