Pageant contestants welcome fans in The Hub City

JACKSON, Tenn. — Miss Volunteer of America pageant competitors gathered at the Hub City Brewery to welcome fans Sunday night.

Allison Demarcus, The  Founder of Miss Volunteer America says she wants the community to come out and support the participants of the competition.

Demarcus says she wants the girls to have the full Jackson experience.

“We just want the community to come out and support these young women. We’ve been telling them how great the Jackson community is and how exciting everybody’s been to have everyone here,” said Demarcus.

She says she just hopes the girls can establish a friendship that will last a lifetime.

“It’s fun to kind of mesh their cultures and worlds and having them all together is really exciting because we’ve been planning this for so long,”said Demarcus. 

Rachel Shumaker, Miss Mississippi Volunteer, says she’s excited to be a part of pageant history.

“Miss Allison and the whole national staff have done such an amazing job of welcoming us and putting this entire thing together. Just to be with my new friends from 46 other states has been really fun,” said Shumaker. 

Ellie Schmidt, Miss Teen Volunteer says she’s grateful to have such a solid foundation.

“I’m so blessed to have so many supporters and people cheering me on along my reign and I have a year left, a year to go. I can’t wait. Each day is just going to be better, better, and better,” said Schmidt.

Priscilla Weigoldpayne, a fan of Miss Washington, says she’s there to assist her with everything she needs.

She says she’s happy she gets to take a break.

“I’m here right now because I have a little pageant stuff to do but now I can take a break because I finished. So, I’m kind of like bowling here right now and eating pretzels at the same time,” said Weigoldpayne.

Demarcus says they have events planned throughout the week.

She says she would like to thank everyone and the city of Jackson for all of their support.