NEPHI -- The Miss Nephi Pageant committee has decided to drop the state sponsorship for the local pageant after this year.
The local competition will be in April, as usual, at the middle school auditorium.City Councilman Mike Jones and Brenda McPherson, representing the Miss Nephi committee, told council members the Miss Utah franchise was too expensive and not worth the effort for local girls.
"Our committee has voted that we will not be sending our girls to the Miss Utah Contest," McPherson said. "We feel that the money spent on sending them would be better used for scholarships."
More local girls would compete, said McPherson, if they did not think they had to compete for the Miss Utah title.
She said it would cost $450 for the franchise and, in addition, a winner would need her pageant money to get ready for the Miss Utah contest.
"Many of the girls (competing at the state level) have been trained for years and years in competition and in the talents they display," said Jim Wilkey, council member.
Most of the girls there are 22 or 23 years old and have talents have further developed in college. Some have college degrees. "Our girls are 19 years old," said McPherson.
She said the competition at the Miss Utah contest was too professional, too well-trained and too used to being in contests for the local young women to compete.