NSU Continuing Education partners with Tahlequah CVB

(Tahlequah, Okla.)-- On April 25, as part of the Red Fern Festival, Northeastern State Universitys Continuing Education department will be partnering with the Tahlequah Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to host the debut of the Red Fern Festival Pageant. The pageant will begin at 9:00 a.m.on the Outdoor Stage at the intersection of Muskogee Ave and Shawnee St.

There are three categories in the competition, Little Miss Red Fern, ages 5 to 8, Junior Miss Red Fern, ages 9 to 13 and Miss Red Fern, ages 14 to 17. All participants must currently live in Cherokee County.

The competition will be unique to the pageant arena, being judged on natural beauty. The winner of Miss Red Fern will be given the opportunity to represent the Tahlequah community and Cherokee County at multiple functions throughout the year following the competition.

Most festivals have a pageant associated with them, such as Miss Chick at Rooster Days and Strawberry Queen at Strawberry Festival, and these ladies are then the poster child for the county and city that year, Rylee Ketcher director of Continuing Education at NSU said. They attend chamber events and ribbon cuttings. We have Miss Cherokee, Miss Keetoowah, Miss NSU, but not one that represents Tahlequah or Cherokee County as a whole. We hope to provide that person through this pageant.

Each category of the competition will allow for 10 participants. Contestants will be judged in a Beauty/Interview category as well as a Talent category. For the Little Miss and Junior Miss competitions, winners will be announced immediately following the pageants. The Miss Red Fern competition will take place at 11 a.m. and the winner will be announced at2 p.m.to the entire festival. Winners of the morning age categories will also be introduced at the finale of the Miss Red Fern competition.

The mission of the Red Fern pageant is to showcase the striking personality, natural charm, and extraordinary character of the amazing youth in Cherokee County. Due to the pageant being considered a natural beauty pageant, simplicity and charisma are the most important factors for contestants.

The Red Fern Festival is named after Wilson Rawls novel, Where the Red Ferns Grow, which is set in and around Tahlequah and tells the story of an unbreakable bond between a young boy and his two dogs. This year will be the ninth for the event.

The Red Fern Festival has become a staple event for Tahlequah, Melissa Harris, of the Tahlequah Area Convention and Visitors Bureau said. People from across the state come to the event, and with the addition of the Red Fern Festival Pageant we will be able to promote the event all year round with Miss Red Fern attending ribbon cuttings, grand openings and community events.

Harris hopes that through the pageant contestants and community members will continue to feel a sense of loyalty to their town and a connection to their community.

It all feeds back to quality of life and quality of the experience our visitors have, she said.