COTR pageants continue

Published 3:33 am Saturday, October 3, 2009

When Miss Christmas on the River is crowned tonight at the Demopolis Civic Center, that will not be the end of the COTR pageants.

Three other pageants featuring local and regional contestants younger than high school age will vie for crowns and a chance to ride in a float in the daytime COTR children’s parade on Dec. 5. All of the pageant contestants come from within a 50-mile radius of Demopolis.

Those pageants include the Miss Junior Christmas on the River, to be held Monday at 7 p.m.; the Young Miss Christmas on the River, to be held Tuesday at 7 p.m.; and the Little Miss Christmas on the River, to be held Wednesday at 6 p.m. All pageants will be held at the Demopolis Civic Center.

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General admission is $5 and $3 for children. A limited number of reserved tickets for the Miss Junior and Little Miss pageants are still available for $8 each through the Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce office or by calling the Chamber office at (334) 289-0270.

Miss Junior Christmas on the River will feature 34 girls from sixth through eighth grades.

Tee Thomason of Greene County Steam Plant is organizing this year’s Miss Junior pageant.

Thomason worked at the very first Christmas on the River in 1972 as a city employee, and said being involved in the pageants was a way for her to get back into the habit of working with the festival.

The Young Miss Christmas on the River pageant will feature the maximum 50 contestants from third through fifth grades.

Rebecca Hasty of BankTrust is the coordinator for the Young Miss pageant. She returns to work with the COTR pageants after taking time off.

The Little Miss Christmas on the River pageant will feature 43 girls from kindergarten through second grade.

Jennifer Clem, a kindergarten teacher at Westside Elementary School, is organizing this year’s Little Miss pageant. She has worked with the Little Miss pageant for the last four or five years.

From kindergarten through 12th grade, there are opportunities for all girls to win a Christmas on the River tiara and sash and represent their age groups on a float in the daytime parade.

From Saturday through Wednesday, the Demopolis Civic Center will be the site of Christmas on the River royalty as the four festival queens are crowned.