Forget Will and Kate -- there's new royalty in town

Stars and stripes decorated the stage for the setting of the Miss Bluffdale Scholarship Pageant May 13. There were nine participants this year. And with platforms ranging from community service to cancer, each girl worked hard to earn the title of Miss Bluffdale.
Kari Bowman was crowned Miss Bluffdale, first attendant is Lindsey Childers, second attendant is Jenica Henderson, and third attendant is Ashley Wilcox. Patrice Spencer, the program's director, raved about each of the girls. "It proved to be an exciting night," Spencer said.
The evening started with former Miss Bluffdale 2006 Tennile Spencer singing the national anthem. . The rest of the evening was highlighted with dance, song, and even a little bit of horses.
Lindsey Childers, crowned first attendant, showed off her talent in a different way. She compiled a slide show of her equestrian skills and wowed the audience with the story of her horses.
Ultimately Kari Bowman was crowned Miss Bluffdale 2011. This was exciting as her sister, Jeni Bowman, Miss Bluffdale 2010, got to give her the crown. This is the second time this has happened in her family. The Bowmans have had five sisters win the honors over the years.
"She's paved an awesome road for me," Kari said of her sister Jeni.
Kari's platform is having a bully-free education. She chose this platform because she has seen a huge need due to news stories that she has heard. Kari is actually majoring in elementary education at UVU and feels this is a great thing to tie together her education.
"I'm just really excited and it's a fun tradition to have in the family," Kari said.
Kari hopes to work with her attendants on everyone's platforms. "They all fit together and it would be incredible to be able to work on all of them," she said.
The pageant was held at South Hills Middle School. There were many in attendance including Mayor Derk Timothy and city council members.
There were several awards received that night. Miss Congeniality went to Shailee Wagner. Miss Photogenic went to Heather Howell. The Director's Award went to Ashley Wilcox
Each of the attendants and the new Miss Bluffdale received prize money to go toward her education. Miss Bluffdale received $1,500, the first attendant received $750, the second $500, and the third $100. There was also a new award given this year. The Community Service Award and it went to Destinee Shook.
Destinee received the award because of her hard work in the community. Her platform was to help school kids learn to read better. Spencer felt she deserved the award because of her dedication to helping these kids.
"She had a hard time learning to read when she was younger, so she moved this trial in her life around into an effort to help others," Spencer said.

This is the second time a Bowman got to crown her sister as Miss Bluffdale.
Kari Bowman, Miss Bluffdale 2011, with her sister Jeni Bowman,
(right) Miss Bluffdale 2010, is very excited about her win.

By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley Journal

Published in June 2011 in Riverton, Utah

http://www.southvalleyjournal.com/pages/full_story/7001/Forget-Will-and-Kate----there's-new-royalty-in-town-/