CEDAR HILLS — Over the past decade, half of the girls who've been crowned Miss American Fork have actually not been from American Fork at all.
They claim Alpine, Highland or Cedar Hills as their home town.
"It gets a little hard to say, "I love American Fork," when you don't live there," said Cindy Chesler to the Cedar Hills City Council recently.
Chesler and Vickey Cook, the co-directors of the Miss American Fork Scholarship Pageant, are trying to alert the three north Utah County cities that its time to create a new tri-city pageant, perhaps to be known as the Miss Timpanogos Scholarship Pageant, or budget to hold a pageant of their own in each city.
"Currently the cities of Alpine, Cedar Hills and Highland are included in the Miss American Fork pageant. The city of American Fork has been funding this program since 1946," said Chesler. "After the June 2002 pageant, they will be changing their boundaries to only include the city of American Fork."
Chesler said growth is the primary reason behind the change. Where once there were limited populations to draw from to support the Miss American Fork pageant, the populations in all three of the more northern cities has increased substantially.
It would cost the three cities approximately $12,655 to host a tri-city pageant, which would be an additional Miss Utah/Miss America franchise pageant and about that same amount three times over to stage individual pageants.
Chesler said she and Cook would be willing to take on directing a tri-city pageant or advise each community on the process of starting their own pageant.
A tri-city pageant could be scheduled just prior to the three city celebrations which are traditionally scheduled in July and August, she said.
It would also mean the three cities would have to share the costs and in the decision-making process.
Individual pageants would be more difficult simply because it would be harder to get financial donations from a smaller commercial base and more difficult to recruit enough contestants.
Without the creation of a new pageant, girls from the Alpine, Highland and Cedar Hills communities would have to try to win a place in the Miss Utah Valley Scholarship Pageant in order to compete in the Miss Utah contest, a precursor to the Miss America pageant that awards numerous cash and tuition scholarships to young women each year.
That pageant usually draws seasoned contestants who are trying for a second or third year in Miss Utah and from the entire county area.
Cedar Hills officials said they would want to see how Alpine and Highland want to proceed before making a commitment.
Some council members questioned the cost versus the average number of contestants in an annual pageant.
"That's the wrong way to look at it," said Councilman Pete Cannon. "If we do this, it's because it's a benefit to the community."
Highland officials, visited by Cook and Chesler later on, said they are uneasy about getting into another tri-city arrangement since the effort to operate a three city library has so recently failed.
"We already have a Junior Miss Pageant, so they wanted to talk more about that," said Winnie Jensen, Highland City recorder. "They also want to know what the interest is in the other cities."
Alpine will discuss the request at its Feb. 26 City Council meeting.
E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com