Citrus industry members are invited to attend the Miss Florida Citrus and Miss Winter Haven pageant on Saturday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Polk State College’s Winter Haven Fine Arts Theatre. Tickets are available for $10 in advance at http://www.missfloridacitrus.net/ or $15 at the door.
“The pageant is a Miss America preliminary pageant, which means that the two contestants who win the two titles will go on to the Miss Florida pageant, and the winner of that pageant goes to Miss America,” explains Brenda Eubanks Burnette, coordinator of the Miss Florida Citrus pageant.
Miss Florida Citrus will receive a $1,000 scholarship and various other prizes.
“For our purposes, we are really trying to use Miss Florida Citrus as a marketing tool to help with some promotional avenues,” both in Florida and outside of the state, says Burnette. “We would love to have the citrus industry support us in regard to either sponsoring a contestant, donating toward the scholarship fund, and more importantly to attend the event and to use Miss Florida Citrus in various promotional opportunities.”
According to Burnette, including Miss Florida Citrus in industry promotions is a “wonderful way to get the public’s attention as well as favorable media attention.” She says the current Miss Florida Citrus, Megan Price, recently partook in a successful sampling program with Always Fresh Farms and Central Market in Austin, Texas. She also appeared at the Produce Marketing Association show in Orlando this past year.
“We’ve also done Miss Florida Citrus promotions with W.G. Roe and Sons in previous years with some of the markets outside of Florida,” adds Burnette.
It’s not too late to apply to be a Miss Florida Citrus contestant. Contestants must be 17 to 25 years old, and at least a senior in high school. Burnette says there are typically 12 to 16 contestants in the pageant.
“We have a couple of young women competing this year who have family in the industry, so we’re very excited to have them with us,” says Burnette, who was Miss Florida Citrus in 1981.
For details on applying to the pageant, learning more on sponsorship opportunities or scheduling a Miss Florida Citrus appearance, contact Burnette at MFCitrus81@gmail.com or 561-351-4314.
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