Turning onto downtown Washington Street’s new bricks, Miss Delta State University Marion Leah Weeks, left, and Miss Blues Country April Leigh Kelly, wave to onlookers during the Miss Mississippi Parade Monday evening.(C. Todd Sherman The Vicksburg Post)

[6/24/03]Several hundred well-wishers and family members lined the parade route of downtown Vicksburg Monday night to watch the 39 Miss Mississippi 2003 contestants make their first public appearance.

Miss Mississippi 2000 Christy May led the parade in a silver Mercedes holding an Emmy Award, won by the Miss Mississippi Pageant weeks ago in the Live Production category for its 2002 show. It was the pageant’s third Emmy in four years.

The first 2003 contestants to roll were Miss Jones County Amanda Paige Whittington and Miss Madison County Allison Kellogg.

Miss Mississippi 2002 Jennifer Adcock was the grand finale, riding in a black Corvette.

“I’ve had a blast,” said Whittington, a first-time Miss Mississippi contestant. “Our practices are long, but I have enjoyed making new friends and meeting the girls,” she said. “I really appreciate the ones that have been in the pageant before because they are teaching the younger ones the ropes.”

Two friends, Vicki Purvis, 14, of Hattiesburg and Colleen Costello, 13, of Cincinnati, Ohio, said the parade and the autograph party that followed at Pemberton Square mall was part of their “girls night out.”

“We went out to eat and shopped,” Vicki said. “My favorite part was the parade. All of the girls are so nice, and we love looking at all the pretty dresses.”

Costello said she and her friends will be watching the pageant closely and will attend Wednesday’s preliminary competition.

“We are going to have a cookout on Saturday, invite a bunch of friends over, and watch the pageant,” Colleen said. “We are going to take notes.”

Caitlin Watford, 9, and her sister, 7-year-old Neely, are paying close attention to their neighbor, Miss Houston North Central Tara Hughes of Morton.

“They both want to do pageants because of her,” said the girls’ mother, Beth Watford. “She lives down the road from us.”

Hughes, another first-time Miss Mississippi contestant, has also been a trendsetter for the girls. Neely tries to keep her hair styled as Hughes does.

“She’s nice, she’s pretty,” Caitlin said.

“And she is pretty tall,” Neely said.

Patsy Hughes, Tara Hughes’ mother, said this is the second year Hughes has been in the pageant, and she supports her daughter’s choice.

“As long as she is enjoying it, I am behind her 100 percent.”

Preliminaries are set for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday starting at 8 p.m. Miss Mississippi 2003 will be crowned Saturday in a program broadcast on WLBT-TV3.