A dozen young ladies from across New Mexico joined the Alamogordo Sertoma Club for the June 6 meeting, prior to the Miss New Mexico Pageant scheduled for June 8 at the Flickinger Center.
Seven of them would compete for the title of Miss New Mexico 2024 and the chance to represent the Land of Enchantment in the next Miss America Pageant.
Three of them competed for the title of Miss New Mexico’s Teen 2024.
And two were the reigning title holders, Miss New Mexico Lianna Hartshorn of Las Cruces, and Miss New Mexico’s Teen Emily Lehr of Alamogordo.
The local participants were Emille-Marie Enriquez, Miss Otero County; Dakota Cullers, Mrs. Alamogordo; and Haidyn Hill, Miss Lincoln County.
During the event, which took place at the Desert Lakes Golf Course in Alamogordo, Rhonda Haynes, executive director of Miss New Mexico, addressed the gathered crowd of contestants, pageant supporters and Sertomans. Like almost everything else on the planet, the Miss New Mexico Pageant faced setbacks due to the pandemic. In recent years there were often twice as many participants.
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“We may be small, but we have a great group of girls,” Haynes said. “You are very talented and very smart.”
Haynes also referenced the recently deceased Carol Henry, who was a crucial leader for Miss New Mexico for many years.
“We have created four community service grants in Carol’s name,” Haynes said. “This is a great way to honor Carol.”
Did you know that the current Miss America, Madison Marsh, is a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force?
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Haynes made sure to inform the public about this. Marsh, who won as Miss Colorado, is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy with a degree in physics. She got her pilot’s license at age 17 and is a cancer researcher.
“It’s really cool to have an Air Force pilot as Miss America,” said Haynes, who reminded all Miss New Mexico candidates that they too can achieve great things.
The group also heard from Sarina Turnbull-Paul, who was Miss Alamogordo in 2008 and 2010, and became Miss New Mexico in 2011.
“Among the skills you learn in this organization, I hope you learn to say yes and lean in with all your heart,” Turnbull-Paul said. “Be true to yourself. Believe in yourself. And I hope you can bring this back to your communities.”
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Miss New Mexico Pageant comes to Alamogordo
