It’s Miss Mississippi time and everyone at The Post is gearing up for a week of activities that include a parade, autograph signings, and competitions.

This year there are five locals competing. I think this is a record for Vicksburg.

Of the five young women competing, three of them danced with my youngest daughter on the Debra Franco dance competition team.

For anyone that has ever had a child on any type of team, you know that means there is a special connection — a bond that develops with the families with whom you travel and dine and of course in our case, the hours spent sitting through dance competitions.

So, these three girls (they will always be little girls to me since they were a few years younger than my daughter) feel like family.

And they are the best kind of family: smart, polite and loving. So much so that they have never let competition come between them.

As any mother knows, girls of any age can sometimes be a bit back-biting, especially when it comes to competing, but not these three.

Their friendship has always been more important than a trophy and in the case of the Miss Mississippi Competition — a crown.

In interviewing them for a story I did on the Miss Mississippi Competition, it was amazing how when I asked all three separately what it was like to compete against each other, they all said they would be rooting for one another.

I don’t know about you, but I am in awe of their selflessness.

I am also excited to see them once again on stage performing. It will feel like old times.

The Miss Mississippi Competition kicks off Monday with the downtown parade. It’s always a fun time, so come out and cheer on our five locals, which also include Charity Lockridge and Erika Wheeler.