It was an exciting week in Vicksburg. The 12th installment of the Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen Pageant was held at the Vicksburg Auditorium. Preliminary competitions were held Thursday and Friday, and the final round of competition was held Saturday night. Miss Southern Grace’s Outstanding Teen Stella Ford was crowned the winner.

“I am overwhelmed with excitement,” Ford said.

“This is one of my biggest dreams.”

In addition to the 24 teens, who competed for the title, Vicksburg played host to the 24 Petite Magnolia Princesses. The young girls not only supported their perspective teen contestants, they also rocked the stage during the MMOT Pageant performances.

Thanks to the local Pizza Inn, on Tuesday the MMOT contestants held a fundraiser with a portion of the evenings proceeds going towards the Children’s Miracle Network. The Miss America Organization partners with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to raise funds and awareness for children’s hospitals throughout the United States.

More positive happenings for Vicksburg:

• On Saturday, the 4th annual Magnolia State Fiber Festival was held at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Mike Harrower, who with his wife organized the event, said the festival was developed to give local knitters exposure to high quality fibers that are not normally available in the area, adding the event has also become a magnet for people from other states.

“We have people and vendors coming from East Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri,” he said. “We see the same vendors each year, but we see new faces (from festivalgoers) every year. A lot of the people come because they’ve heard about the festival from others,” Harrower said.

• During a wrap-up meeting held Tuesday, Relay for Life and American Cancer organizers discussed the successes of the event, which was held May 13. So far this year, Relay has raised $33,000. A Celebrity Waiter Dinner is planned for October at Ameristar.

The proceeds will be added to the total, which combined will help Warren County reach its Relay for Life’s overall goal.

• On Thursday, former Warren Central punter, Devon Bell signed with the Detroit Lions. Bell was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Mississippi State where he spent four years with the Mississippi State University Bulldogs. While in Starkville, Bell broke the school record for most points scored by a kicker in a year and established a single-season school record for attempted and made points after touchdowns, making 43 of 44 attempts.