Miss Metropolitan Kyndall Covington
Miss Scenic City Leah Beth Bolton
Miss Tennessee Valley Lacey Alford
Miss Seven Lakes Sara Mitchell and Miss Chattanooga Chandler Lawson
photo by Shay Bader Wallace
Scenic City Pageants Executive Director Rodney Hullender is shown with Miss Metropolitan Kyndall Covington, Miss Chattanooga Chandler Lawson, Miss Wittler, Miss Scenic City Leah Beth Bolton and Miss Tennessee Valley Lacey Alford
photo by Wendy King
Chattanooga lives up to its title as the Scenic City for its internationally acclaimed beauty and the local success during the last decade at the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant has been no exception.
Area entrants have won the coveted state crown six times and the four women competing in Jackson this week are hoping to return the title to local hands for the second time in three years.
The three preliminary rounds start on Wednesday and conclude on Friday as the 36 candidates compete in talent, swimsuit, evening wear and interview. The top 15 will be revealed at Saturday’s finale, one of whom will receive a $13,000 scholarship and the crown from outgoing titleholder Nicole Jordan of Cordova.
The preliminaries and finals will be webcast at www.eplustv6.com all four nights from 9-11 ET from the Carl Perkins Civic Center.
Miss Chattanooga Chandler Lawson of Tullahoma wants to follow in the footsteps of Miss Tennessee 2009 and Miss America runner-up Stefanie Wittler of Soddy-Daisy as the second UTC student in three years to win the title. An aspiring entertainment attorney, the 21-year-old Miss Lawson is a senior majoring in political science and an intern at Chambliss, Bahner and Stophel.
Miss Lawson would be the first Miss Chattanooga in 63 years to outright win the Miss Tennessee title. In 1948 Dorothy Jane Free became the only Miss Chattanooga to ever be crowned Miss Tennessee. However, seven Miss Chattanooga winners have competed at Miss America since there were few state pageants in the 1940s due to World War II.
Miss Lawson is also the founder of the non-profit organization 5 Loaves 4 Kids (www.5loaves4kidscharity.com) which provides weekend backpacks of food for low-income students. Miss Lawson is competing for the second time at Miss Tennessee where she was a top 10 finalist in 2009.
The Miss Chattanooga title is one of four in the Scenic City Pageants franchise, which attracts contestants from across the state due to the leadership of Executive Directors Rodney Hullender and Bobbie Nations. Their efforts have resulted in three Miss Tennessee winners (Jamie Watkins Davenport in 2003, Blaire Pancake in 2006 and Ellen Carrington Shelton in 2008) and numerous runners-up, top 10 finalists and preliminary winners.
Miss Lawson is the only one of this year’s four local entrants who lives in Chattanooga, but her three co-crowns are also eager to extend the Scenic City success at the state level and beyond.
Leah Beth Bolton of Jackson, a former student at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, is Miss Scenic City. Miss Bolton is currently a sophomore majoring in Journalism and Broadcast News at the University of Memphis. An award-winning tap dancer, she is a dance captain at Theatre Memphis and a choreographer for the Jackson Theatre Guild.
Miss Metropolitan Kyndall Covington of Arlington is also a Broadcast Communications major at the University of Memphis. The vocalist made her Grand Ole Opry debut as the opening act for Jim Ed Brown and performed in the same capacity at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis for Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. She has been a guest performer at Walt Disney World and for the Royal Caribbean cruise line.
Lacey Alford of Seymour is Miss Tennessee Valley and a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where she received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology. The owner of a mobile spray tan business, Miss Alford wants to attend the UT College of Law. She has made numerous appearances on behalf of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) since her grandfather was killed by a drunk driver. The 23-year-old Miss Alford was the third runner-up at last year’s state pageant where she is competing for the third and final time.