Painting nails, hitting the gyms and practicing talents will top to-do lists for some MSU students this November.
The Miss Capital City Michigan pageant in the DeVille Room of The Cadillac Club, 1115 S. Washington Ave. in Lansing, will take place Nov. 10.
The pageant, a pre-qualifier for the Miss Michigan and Miss America competitions, is open to women ages 17-24.
This is the first year of the Miss Capital City pageant.
"We're always trying to be cutting edge in coming up with programs and projects that are interesting to the community," said Ronda Liskey, marketing director of The Cadillac Club and president of Miss Capital City Board of Directors. "We're all about improving the community."
In order for the pageant to be a part of the Miss America Organization, Dave Sheets, owner of The Cadillac Club, purchased the franchise hoping to do something different for the community.
Since the pageant is open there are no restrictions about where a contestant must reside, so representation from MSU and other universities is expected to help make up the roster of 22 contestants.
Registration is open online until July 1. After that date, all applicants who signed up online will receive an application package in the mail.
The first 22 applicants to return the completed paperwork will be contestants in the pageant.
The selected Miss Capital City will win scholarship money and compete in the Miss Michigan competition next year. The Miss Michigan titleholder then competes in the Miss America pageant.
"This (Miss America organization) is the 'cream of the crop,'" said Deb Zale, executive director of the Lansing pageant. "This is the most prestigious of all the beauty pageants. It's got the longest history and is best known as the one that features talent as part of the judging process."
From what Zale and others can pinpoint, the last local pageant was in 1969 - Miss Michigan State. A Miss Lansing was crowned in 1954 and Miss East Lansing in 1964.
Zale said it's common sense to reintroduce a pageant to the capital area.
"I'm excited about this pageant because I know there are a lot of MSU girls that compete in pageants in their hometowns," Allison Blaine, a 20-year-old biochemistry and microbiology junior, said. "It's nice to have a pageant here, where we go to school."
Blaine has competed twice at Miss Calhoun County and enjoyed meeting other girls and earning scholarship money.
The amount of scholarship money is dependent on sponsors, Zale said.
The top five contestants of the pageant will receive scholarships.
A sponsor reception, July 18 at The Cadillac Club, will invite committed and potential sponsors to enjoy food and entertainment, and to learn about the pageant.
"The size and amount of scholarships we can award are strictly based on what is given to us by the community," Zale said. "Without the support and donations from local businesses, we don't have a pageant."
Local pageant workers are looking forward to making a difference in the community.
"I'm so proud to be here doing all of this in the Lansing area because of the whole package," said Ghada Masaad, vice president of Miss Capital City Board of Directors. "It's awesome and wonderful."
