Evans sisters come away winners in pageant

Sophie Evans was awarded Oklahoma State Young Miss Modeling Queen, Glamour Queen and Supreme Photogenic. Shelby Evans was awarded Oklahoma State Teen Miss Talent Queen, Glamour Girl and Diamond Girl.

The sisters are the daughters of Frankie and Donna Evans of Guthrie.

The statewide pageant was held in Chickasha on June 20 and 21 with more than 50 contestants participating. Girls were judged on several areas including modeling ability, interview skills and talent. A preliminary pageant will be held in Guthrie on April 18, 2015 hosted by Shelby and Sophie and Bella Brown of Choctaw.

“The judges are looking for modeling ability, overall appearance and appropriateness for age. They look at hair, clothing fit and their smile. We don’t want a three-year-old to look like an 18-year-old,” said Molly Wilson, who co-founded Our Diamond Miss with her husband Kenny. “Talent is judged on technical ability and performance. Are they enjoying it and having a good time?”

The Our Diamond Miss pageant organization is present in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. Our Diamond Miss has been crowning queens for 31 years and is considered a family friendly organization.

“Above all, it is child-centered. The focus of our pageants is to help develop necessary traits such as speaking, self-confidence and the ability to showcase a talent,” said Wilson. “We don’t have beauty queens. We think all of our girls are beautiful, of course, but our awards are based on merit. These are not just pretty little girls to dress up. They are intelligent young women that have a lot of talent and skills to offer.”

Alumnae of Our Diamond Miss pageants have progressed to larger arenas including Miss Arkansas, a first runner-up for Miss America, Miss Oklahoma, a Top 10 non-finalist talent at Miss America, Miss Teen Texas, Miss Teen USA, Miss Teen Nevada, a second runner-up Miss Teen USA, Miss Teen Oklahoma and a Mickey Mouse Mouseketeer.

Any girl is eligible to compete in Our Diamond Miss pageants. Local preliminary pageants are held throughout the year and participating in one qualifies the contestant to compete at the state level. The cost to participate in local pageants is very affordable.

“If a girl wants to try pageants, she should try. Families don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money to participate in one of the Our Diamond Miss pageants,” said Wilson. “Girls that compete at the local level can even win entry fees or money off their state entry fees. These girls don’t have to be able to do everything to participate. We have had winners with prosthetic legs and cochlear implants. It doesn’t have to be that all-American beauty. We are open to seeing the beauty in every child.”