Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

DOWAGIAC – The 2021 Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant, sponsored by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tracy Urbanski, pageant director, made the announcement Monday.

“Our decision was based upon the rising number of COVID-19 cases in both Cass County and Dowagiac, coupled with state mandates that limit the number of people who can safely gather,” Urbanski said. “We are hopeful in coming months, if the pandemic is controlled, we will be able to move ahead with the 82nd-annual pageant.”

The event, which is typically hosted in late January or early February, fills Dowagiac’s Performing Arts Center to near capacity. The pageant, which awards educational scholarships to members of the Court of Honor, has been a time-honored tradition since 1930. Since that time and with the exception of World War II, the event has been hosted annually.

“With the hope the 2021 pageant will be able to be held later in the year, committee members will move forward, raising scholarship donations for the upcoming Court of Honor,” Urbanski said.