Vicksburg is back.

Those were the words spoken by Amanda Harris, one of two local directors for the Miss Vicksburg and Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen competitions, after crowning two young women on Saturday at the Parkside Playhouse Theatre.

Morgan Nelson won the title of Miss Vicksburg and Maddie Snow won the title of Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen.

“We are super excited,” to have crowned a Miss Vicksburg and a Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen, local director Racheal Hollowell said. “They (Nelson and Snow) are both wonderfully talented, well-spoken and carried themselves so well. We are truly excited.”

For the last four years, neither the Miss Mississippi Competition nor the Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen Competition has had a candidate with the title of Miss Vicksburg, but thanks to Harris and Hollowell, who volunteered to serve as local directors, the River City, as Harris said, is back.

As the newly crowned Miss Vicksburg, Nelson said after she heard her name called, “I was so shocked. You could literally see my mouth drop (in) a video I watched afterward.”

Nelson, who is a Vicksburg resident and a sophomore at Mississippi State University, said she also felt “excited and thankful.”

Snow, who is an eighth grader at the Academy of Innovation, echoed the same sentiments.

“I was very excited,” she said.

Nelson and Snow will go on to compete for their respective state titles, with Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen scheduled to run April 21 through 23 at the Ardis T. Williams Sr. Auditorium, 901 Monroe St.

The Miss Mississippi Competition will be held June 7 through 10 at the Vicksburg Convention Center, 1600 Dr. Briggs Hopson Blvd.

Reflecting on the support they were shown in volunteering as the Vicksburg local directors, Hollowell said, “This has been an incredible feeling and humbling. “All of Vicksburg supported us extremely well.”

“And we would like to thank all of our sponsors,” Harris said.

Sponsors for the Miss Vicksburg and Miss Vicksburg’s Outstanding Teen competitions include the Parkside Playhouse Theatre; Mulberry Vicksburg; The Ivy Place; City of Vicksburg; Warren County Board of Supervisors; Terry and Wendi Treadwell; Bella La Vita Photography; Lindsay Dedeaux-State Farm Insurance; Cadence Bank; Debra Franco; Levee Street Marketplace; The Biscuit Company; Parish Waterfowl; V105.5 Radio; Cade Law Firm; Sheffield Rentals and Outside the Box Business Center.

“We would also like to give a special thank you to the following businesses for supporting this competition,” Harris said. “They are Overdrive Nutrition, the Cinnamon Tree, Walnut Hills, Paper Plus, Sassafras, Peterson’s, The Dragonfly, Cafe Paradiso, Vicksburg River City Nutrition and Relish.”