Miss Mississippi: It’s worth every step|Tadlock heads to Las Vegas in January

Published 12:00 am Monday, July 20, 2009

Miss Mississippi 2009 Anna Tadlock almost didn’t try to return to the pageant this year, but then she came back and nabbed the 52nd crown in Vicksburg Saturday night.

“I didn’t want last year (2008) to be my last memory,” Tadlock said Sunday she told her mother. “I wanted to know I did everything I possibly could.”

She made it to the Top 10 in 2008, but not into the Top 5.

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Encouraged by her parents, Tommy and Felicia Tadlock of Brandon, Tadlock decided to take her fourth shot.

“My motivation was obviously the scholarship money, but because I knew I would be more prepared” confidence came easily, said the 23-year-old Brookhaven native.

Felicia Tadlock said her daughter “has never been a pageant person,” but interest began with her first pageant, during her junior year in high school.

As an only child, she credits her talent and support to her parents.

“They both played a vital and important role in helping me get ready by being good parents and being supportive,” Tadlock said.

Tadlock’s father, her long-distance running buddy, helps her with current events.

“My dad is like me in a sense in that we both love current events and getting into the political issues and talking about it with each other,” she said. “When I need to prep, my dad and I talk about that stuff while we would run together.”

Her mother, she said, helps with her talent, style and what she wears on- and off-stage.

“Whatever look is on my face, she knows whether it’s good or bad,” said Felicia Tadlock, who also sings and passed along her musical genes to her daughter.

The new Miss Mississippi, who began singing at her church when she was 5, said she is hoping to take to the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas in January the same song she performed here last week and last year, “A New Life,” but she will have to have it cleared by the national pageant’s officials.

Along with all the scholarships and perks that come with the crown, Tadlock said she is excited about the opportunity to promote her platform, music education for children.

“I firmly believe that when you involve a child in the arts, especially in music early on, it’s going to have a profound impact on their educational opportunity later on,” she said. “I feel every child should have the opportunity for that experience.”

A 2008 Mississippi State University graduate, Tadlock plans to return to school to obtain a master’s degree and some day teach English at the high school or college level.

She said she is unsure of which graduate school she would like to attend, but Mississippi State is in her blood, having had both parents, grandparents and a number of aunts and uncles graduate from there.

The road to the 2010 Miss America competition has already begun for the 5-foot-4 blonde, who will be traveling back and forth from Brandon to Vicksburg for her preparations.

Looking back at her four years in the Miss Mississippi program, she said, “It’s been a journey, but it’s worth every step of the way.”

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchan@vicksburgpost.com