Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ward competes for Miss Arkansas title third time

Prescott's own Jessie Ward will be making her third attempt to win the Miss Arkansas crown in Hot Springs at the convention center.

The Miss Arkansas Pageant is being held June 13-16, with 48 hopefuls vying for the title and chance to compete for the crown of Miss America in Atlantic City, NJ, later this year.

Last year Ward was named Miss Texarkana. The way the Miss Texarkana Pageant is set up, the winner actually holds the crown for two years, competing one year in the Miss Texas Pageant and the next for Miss Arkansas. Ward, in 2000, was in the Miss Texas Pageant.

This meant she didn't have to compete in another pageant this year to earn a shot at the Miss Arkansas crown.

Some, who follow pageants the way sports are followed, say Ward is the odds on favorite, but she doesn't go in for such thinking.

Each pageant is different, Ward said, and no outcome is guaranteed.

She began her pageant career on the local level winning the Nevada County Fair Queen contest. The winner of this event is automatically entered in the Southwest Arkansas District Fair Queen competition.

At the time, no candidate from Nevada County had won the district pageant in almost 10 years. This changed when Ward blew away the competition.

She enjoyed her experiences in this pageant so much, she decided to try her hand at the state level.

"I started when I was 18 and green," Ward said of her first Miss Arkansas Pageant. At the time, she was Miss University of Arkansas Community College at Hope. "The Miss Arkansas Pageant was different from high school and the district fair."

Ward did well in her inaugural state pageant, learning how things are done and meeting the people involved.

She returned the next year as Miss West Central Arkansas, representing 11 counties.

Again, she did well, improving from her first attempt, but not winning the crown.

In 2000 Ward was crowned Miss Texarkana and went to the Miss Texas event, and will be in Hot Springs this week as Miss Texarkana.

Being in pageants is different for everyone, she said. In her case, though, the results have been positive, as she has been "pushed into the world and learned not to confine myself.

"I've learned to explore my options," Ward said. "It's been a character-building opportunity and I've developed opinions about things. It raises the bar on life in general, but it's not for everyone."

One of Ward's favorite parts of pageants is picking out clothes to wear for the different competitions. She tries to fit the clothes to her personality, selecting the outfit and evening gown to best show who she is.

However, the hardest part of the pageant world, she said, is finding your identity. There are some who want to push a contestant in one direction, and not necessarily the one they need, or want, to be heading in. "You have to be your own person, but you can't be closed minded."

It's important, Ward said, to remember everyone is different and comes from divergent backgrounds.

There are a lot of long days involved in being in pageants, and longer ones after winning one, as queens are required to fulfill their duties, and this means traveling.

Part of a beauty queen's duties is to talk to students in schools. This, Ward said, isn't always easy as it's hard to reach teens at times.

This was made even more difficult for Ward at Genoa Central, where she was to speak on school violence.

The problem was two students had brought rifles to school earlier in the day and threatened to turn Genoa into another Jonesboro.

Though nervous going on stage, Ward spoke to the students from the heart, telling of the dangers of school violence.

"It was the hardest thing I've done," she said. "They were a tough crowd, but the students were very complimentary."

Her talk was on the Jonesboro shooting from an eyewitness account.