Miss Mississippi 2003 Allison Kellogg.(C. Todd Sherman The Vicksburg Post)

[6/30/03]It was long after receiving roses from Gov. Ronnie Musgrove and the crown from Miss Mississippi 2002 Jennifer Adcock that Allison Kellogg said she realized she is the new Miss Mississippi.

“I was so antsy this morning,” Kellogg said Sunday after her first night as Miss Mississippi. “I decided to go for a run. I started laughing because I realized it was real.”

Kellogg, who came to the 46th annual Miss Mississippi pageant in Vicksburg as Miss Madison County, was crowned Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd of 1,700 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. She will compete in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City in September.

During a press conference in the home of Dr. Briggs Hopson Jr., chairman of Board of Trustees of the Miss Mississippi Corporation, Kellogg said she has never been to the Miss America pageant or to Atlantic City.

“I am excited about all the hard work,” said Kellogg, 22, a graduate of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

During the days and weeks until traveling to the national pageant, she will live in Vicksburg, rehearse and practice, select clothes, rehearse and practice.

“I know it will be tough,” she said, “but I am looking forward to it. This is my first job out of college.”

Beth Kellogg, Allison’s mother, said pageants are a new thing for the Kellogg family. “I never had any idea she would enter a pageant,” said Kellogg, who used to watch her daughter host pageant parties for her friends as a child. “We have never had anyone in our family, on my side or her father’s, to enter a pageant before. We are thrilled for her.”

During her reign as Miss Mississippi 2003, Kellogg, from Madison, plans to promote her platform after-school programs for youths 5 to 17 years old.

“This title can open so many doors that being just plain Allison Kellogg could not,” said Kellogg, who competed in the Miss Mississippi Pageant for three years. After-school programs normally offer personal tutoring and other education enhancements beyond the normal school day. They are a big component of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Kellogg performed a lyrical ballet during the pageant to the song “A Piece of Sky” by Barbra Streisand.

“My parents enrolled me in dance classes to help me make friends,” Kellogg said. “From there I started teaching dance classes when I was 14. I had a busy schedule, but I made time to do it.”

Hopson said Kellogg has what it takes to be Miss Mississippi and Miss America.

“She is intelligent, composed, punctual, and beautiful inside and out,” he said. “Many people don’t realize that you can’t win this pageant by just being beautiful or just being talented. It takes a composite of good qualities and a well-rounded young lady.”

Kellogg plans to pursue a career on Broadway after completing a master of fine arts degree at New York University.