DOWAGIAC – Young women attending Dowagiac Union High School, who would like to sign up for the 2019 Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant may do so beginning from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, in the Dowagiac Union High School cafeteria. After that date, applications will be available in the high school main office until Friday, Oct. 12.

The 2019 Miss Dowagiac will be crowned Saturday, Jan. 12, as the pageant celebrates its 80th year. As a long-standing tradition, the Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant awards college scholarships to members of the Court of Honor and also affords Miss Dowagiac the opportunity to enter preliminary competitions to the Miss Michigan/America or Miss Michigan/USA pageants.  In recent years, nearly $69,000 in college scholarships have been awarded.

According to Tracy Urbanski, a member of the Pageant Executive Committee, a mandatory meeting will be hosted for interested applicants at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17, within the Dowagiac Community Room located in the James E. Snow Professional Building at 203 S. Front St.  At that meeting, applicants will turn in their emergency contact forms, their completed applications and pay their $20 entry fees.

Girls who apply must be 17 years old by Jan. 1, 2019.  Contestants must also be full-time residents of the Dowagiac School District and attend Dowagiac Union Schools.  Applicants must have good school attendance and a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher at the end of the semester prior to the application process.  Pageant officials will verify this with school officials.

Urbanski said after applications have been reviewed, a social will take place Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Dowagiac Area History Museum for all contestants and their parents or guardians. At the social, contestants will receive more detailed information on the pageant, and will have their photos taken for the pageant program. This will also be a time for applicants and their parents or guardians to ask questions.   

For more information on the Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant, contact Vickie Phillipson, program director of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Pageant Executive Committee, at (269) 782-8212 or vphillipson@Dowagiac.org.