Miss Niles looks to end 40-year Blossomtime drought
Published 9:23 am Friday, March 6, 2015
It’s been a long time since Miss Niles has taken home the top honor from the Miss Blossomtime Pageant.
Forty years to be exact.
Leader file photo
Simone Smith has been preparing for Miss Blossomtime since she was crowned Miss Niles in November.
Miss Niles Simone Smith hopes she will be the one to end the drought. The pageant takes place Monday evening at Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center.
“It would be a huge honor to put Niles back on the map and represent not only my community, but all of Southwest Michigan,” said the Niles New Tech senior.
Smith has spent the past several weeks working to make that happen. She’s been working out at the YMCA as often as she can, even doing Zumba classes with former Miss Niles Lacey Peters.
She’s been practicing her posture at home and at school, while making sure to keep a smile on nearly all the time.
“It is something I’ve gotten used to,” she said. “Sometimes I don’t even notice it anymore.”
Juggling her duties as Miss Niles, while being a student and preparing for the Blossomtime Pageant hasn’t been easy. It’s required her to become more efficient at planning and prioritizing what is important to her.
“I make sure to have my planner and write down everything,” she said. “I’m also making sure to pay attention to my schoolwork because that is really important. I know that I am representing not only myself, but my community the best I can.”
With the pageant just a few days away, Smith said she is looking most forward to being on stage for the formal walks and the on-stage question.
“That is when I believe I truly shine the most. It brings me out of my box and I feel like an alter ego, like my Sasha Fierce,” she said.
Smith is most nervous about what happens off stage — the private interviews.
“Even though I’ve been told I interview really well that still worries me,” she said. “You never know what they are going to ask and you never know if you are going to have an on or an off day.”
No matter what happens, Smith said she is excited to compete in the Miss Blossomtime Pageant alongside the other community queens.
“A lot of people think that we are all so fake, but honestly I’ve gained 23 sisters that I will never forget,” she said. “These girls are genuinely nice. I feel like I truly get along with them because we share a lot of the same goals. They are goal oriented and have futures and are determined to do good things in life. That is something I also love about being around those girls.”
