19 Jun 2017 Contestant recruitment under way for Mrs. Arkansas America 2017

Pageant officials are actively recruiting contestants statewide to represent local and regional preliminary titles at the 41st annual Mrs. Arkansas America Pageant scheduled Saturday, Nov. 11, in Hot Springs.

“We invite all married women throughout Arkansas who are interested in participating to claim their local title and begin preparing for competition,” said Lynn DeJarnette, executive director of the Mrs. Arkansas America Pageant.

Among the regional titles currently available for potential contestants in Central Arkansas are Mrs. Pulaski County, Mrs. Faulkner County, Mrs. White County, Mrs. Saline County, Mrs. Perry County, Mrs. Hot Spring County, Mrs. Conway County, Mrs. Cleburne County and Mrs. Van Buren County. For details on how to qualify and register as a preliminary titleholder in the Mrs. Arkansas America contestant, visit mrsarkansas.org.

“Mrs. Arkansas America should be someone with a servant’s heart who wants to represent all of the women of Arkansas as they serve their community and state,” said DeJarnette. “She should be someone who takes care of herself, is approachable and can communicate to others with love and passion for what she is doing. She is a giver, not a taker.”

DeJarnette would know. Before assuming her duties as executive director of the state pageant, DeJarnette was Mrs. Arkansas America 1994.

“Women today have eternal beauty and can compete at any age,” said DeJarnette. “We believe that wisdom and life experiences can only add to a woman’s beauty.”

“When women feel important, needed and beautiful, it can help their self-esteem and open them up and into the person they should be, and that helps to make them a happier person in all areas of their lives,” said DeJarnette. “I have seen the lives of so many women changed, including my own, as a result of the pageant experience.”

Presented annually since 1978, the Mrs. Arkansas America Pageant is a direct preliminary to the Mrs. America Pageant. In turn, the Mrs. America Pageant feeds into the Mrs. World Pageant.

“The Mrs. Arkansas Pageant is all about family, and we feel God and family always come first,” said DeJarnette, the mother of two and grandmother of five. She and her husband, Ronnie DeJarnette, have been married for more than 40 years and now live in Hot Springs.

Mrs. Arkansas America 2017 is Kristen Thomas, an elementary school teacher from Crossett who competed last year as Mrs. Southeast Arkansas. Thomas will represent Arkansas this year at the Mrs. America Pageant on Saturday, Aug. 26, in Las Vegas.

With a platform titled “Farm to Table,” Thomas is using her year of service to travel throughout the state to promote healthier ways to feed America through non-processed foods.

“My title has given me the opportunity to reach even more children throughout the state,” said Thomas. “I am able to educate my students and their parents on the importance of eating healthy and utilizing the resources available in their area.”

Thomas has also been busy making public appearances on behalf of several nonprofit charities, including an annual partnership with CARTI.

Deadline for registering as a contestant in the 41st annual Mrs. Arkansas America Pageant is Friday, Sept. 1.  

For more information on how to become a qualified preliminary titleholder, visit mrsarkansas.org.