PANAMA CITY — The Panama City Garden Club made a little bit of history Sunday afternoon as its annual Azalea Trail Pageant’s preliminary judging was held open to the public for the first time.
“We have scholarship money that we’re trying to get together and this is a way of getting some scholarship money for the girls,” said Pat Feneas, Garden Club president.
The club charged $5 admission for the event. Some of that money covered expenses for using the Martin Theatre, but the rest went into the scholarship pot. The club also sells calendars with the girls’ pictures to raise money for the scholarship fund. The club awards a total of $2,000 in scholarships to the pageant’s five finalists.
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Feneas said the club plans to continue holding the preliminary judging open to the public.
“This is just too beautiful not to do it that way,” she said.
Feneas also hopes the experience on stage in front of an audience will better prepare the girls for the Azalea Trail on March 15 when the five finalists will be announced and the queen crowned. This is the 48th year of the pageant, started as a salute to spring in Panama City, Feneas said.
As proud of the contestants as if she were their own mother, Feneas insisted the pageant is about much more than “beauty.”
“They learn how to walk, how to talk, how to present themselves,” she said. “It’s not about the dress, it’s not about the hat. It’s about the girl inside of that, how she expresses herself.”
Pageant judge Sherry Brown did not even mention looks when she described what she wants to see in a contestant.
“Confidence,” she said, “I look for the maturity, confidence and just poise. Even if they stumble or fall, it’s not that — it’s how they recover,” she said.
Brown said Sunday’s judging was a “tight race” to choose the top 10. The next round of judging for these girls is an interview session with the judges. For that portion, Brown said she was concerned less with the content of the answers and more with the contestants’ ability to think on their feet.
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“Being able to collect themselves quickly and be able to answer a question — coherent, idea-based thought,” Brown said.
Overall, Feneas hopes contestants come away from the Azalea Trail with improved confidence.
“We want them to feel special,” she said. “We want them to feel like they can go anywhere and do anything.”
10 Finalists
- The 10 finalists selected Sunday are Bailey Anne Corbin, Katelyn Friend, Emmie Haas, Paige Millirons, Alexandria Sherman, Athina Smith, Savanna Suggs, Kassie Waddy, Paige Whiting and Elise Wiselogel.