Seventeen-year-old France Beard was thrilled to be crowned Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen on June 4 at the Vicksburg Auditorium.

But her biggest thrill came from knowing she was performing on the same stage where her mother, Ann Phillips Beard, competed more than 20 years ago and her grandmother, Mallory Willis Wilkerson Beard, competed more than 50 years ago.

“I started thinking about it backstage during the pageant,” France said. “I felt really at peace knowing that … I was literally following in their footsteps.”

In 1959, France’s grandmother was crowned Miss Vicksburg. France’s mother held three titles, Miss Biloxi in 1982, Miss Jackson County in 1983 and Miss Dixie in 1984. During her reigns as Miss Jackson County and Miss Dixie, Ann Phillips was in the top 10.

France never imagined herself competing for a crown.

“I grew up looking at the stage,” France said. “Except I was looking to dance, not compete.”

She also said neither her mother nor father — Clay Beard, a Vicksburg native and 1978 graduate of St. Aloysius High School — ever pushed her to compete.

“France did everything herself,” Ann Phillips Beard said. “She would look to me for advice, but from the very beginning she has always been self-motivated.”

Beard said she was beyond words when France was crowned Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen.

“I spent years of my life preparing for pageants and to see someone so deserving win a crown was very special,” Beard said. “I told her, ‘They have to put a crown on someone’s head, so why not yours?’”

For France’s father, seeing his daughter on stage was a powerful moment.

“Just imagine going in there and knowing that your mother, wife and now daughter had all walked on that stage,” Clay Beard said. “It held a lot of special memories for me all balled together.”

Clay Beard has also enjoyed the chance to spend time in his hometown again.

“Me being from Vicksburg makes this whole thing that much more exciting,” Beard said. “I’ve gotten to come back and interact with people from here, and that has been fun.”

France said her experience with the Miss Mississippi Corporation has been a whirlwind, but rewarding, experience.

“I’m still new at all this,” she said. “I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing, but I’ve had so much fun.”

Her mother’s advice? “She told me to never fit in a box and stay true to who I am,” France said.

This week, France is performing in the 2011 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center as a dancer. In August, she will travel to Orlando to compete in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.