A magical night of entertainment, bling and beautiful young women set the stage for the 2014 Miss UT Martin and Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival Scholarship pageants held Saturday, Oct. 26 in the UTM Fine Arts building.
Hollie Holt, the pageant’s executive director, welcomed this group of young women, who, if crowned would via for the 2014 Miss Tennessee title in Jackson, Tenn.
Taking home the Miss UT Martin crown was senior nursing major Erica Glisson from Dresden, Tenn. Capturing the Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival crown was Camille Garner from Tullahoma, who attends Tennessee Tech University.
Rounding out the respective royalties is 1st Runner-Up; Shelby Dotson from Rutherford, Tenn.; 2nd Runner-Up, Courtney Caton, from Huntingdon, Tenn. Also winning titles is 1st Runner-Up, Victoria Abbott, a UTM graduate from Rutherford and 2nd Runner-Up, Dylan Brown a UTM nursing major from Martin, Tenn.
The new Miss UT Martin, Erica Glisson, stole the show, winning both interview and swimsuit categories on her way to capturing the crown. She also entertained the packed house by singing Etta James’s classic tune, “At Last.” Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival, Camille Gardner, had the crowd on their feet after her monologue, “Sunbonnet Sue,” from the musical Broadway production, Quilters.
Not only was the talent portion of the competition on fire; it seemed as though the auditorium may as well have been too. The evening’s emcee, Steve Holt, joked about the heat being “stuck” as the audience made good use of their pageant programs by fanning themselves. A new feature to the pageant was the ability to live tweet questions to Steve Holt and he would read them onstage; this was a fun addition to the competition.
The night was also filled with title holders from all over Tennessee, who, as members of the Miss America organization and Teen Miss America organization, came to welcome the new winners.
Before the big announcement, the outgoing Miss UT Martin 2013, Jordan Gunn, gave a heartfelt and emotional speech. Through tears, Jordan thanked her constant supporters and shared her feelings about the many blessings bestowed upon her during her reign as Miss UT Martin. Gunn said, “those who supported me made me the best Jordan that I could be.”
Madison Hardy, Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival 2013, also gave an emotional goodbye speech thanking the Miss Tennessee organization, after her top 15 performance at the pageant this year.
Winning either of these coveted, prestigious titles would make any young woman happy, especially after the scholarship awards are factored in. The new queens will also have a year filled with appearances, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and preparation for the 2014 Miss Tennessee pageant.
Another local opportunity for young women to compete for scholarships is the Miss Tennessee Fall Fest pageant held in Union City, Tenn. on November 16, 2013. Here a $2,000 scholarship will be awarded to the winner. Contact Emily Anne Sparks at esparks@utm.edu for more information. Executive Director of the Miss UT Martin and Miss Tennessee Soybean Festival Scholarship pageant is Hollie Holt, who can be reached at hholt@utm.edu.
