Former Miss Bay County winner discusses overall view of the event and the benefits of applying as a college student.
By: Hal Reed
Kenadie Mlujeak, Delta college student, has been in pageants since she was 2 years old. As she continued her passion for pageantry, she received four different titles, including the title of 2024 Miss Bay County last year. That same year, Mlujeak received $2,000 in scholarships from competitions alone.
Q: What exactly is the Miss Bay County event?
A: The Miss Bay County scholarship program we hold every August, and it is for women from 18 to 28 who live in Bay County, work full-time or go to school full-time in Bay County. Basically, we do five different faces of competition. We have a 10-minute private interview, you have to do a fitness walk and evening gown walk; we have an onstage question and then a 90 second talent performance as well. It’s just a way for women to win scholarships, get marketing opportunities and learn to speak in front of people.
One of my favorite parts about Miss America opportunity is that each contestant is required to have a service initiative, and so that’s what you wanna advocate for in your community, something you’re really passionate about.
Q: What would you say if anybody was interested in joining?
A: I would really encourage women in Bay County to do this. You have nothing to lose, and something that’s really awesome about the Miss Bay County program specifically, as compared to other locals, we’re one of the only local pageants that actually has rehearsals for new contestants. So, if you’re completely new to beauty pageantry, we’ll teach you how to do the walks; we’ll teach you how to get close with people and build relationships. I definitely recommend it to a lot of different people.
Q: Is it open up to the public or limited to previous contestants?
A: The event will take place Sunday, Aug. 17, and we’re taking contestants currently. You can reach out to me on Instagram @missbaycountymi, or you can reach out to Linda Billheimer, our director, and really get involved.
Q: What about the people interested that don’t live in the Bay County area?
A: There is a separate program called the Miss Bay Teen program open up to ages 14 to 18, and you can live anywhere in Michigan. They have the same basis of competition and the same benefits. I competed in the teen programs from when I was 12 years old and up until I was 17, and it was really beneficial.
Q: Do you have any other comments around pageantries?
A: I would encourage people to think more about their stereotypes of pageantry and what they think of pageantry. Because a lot of the stereotypes that I’ve met in my personal life and people have come up—not necessarily come up to me—I can tell that they think I’m dumb because I do pageants, I’m just a pretty face. But they’re judging a book by its cover and that’s so not what it’s about. It’s a scholarship opportunity, it’s a way for us to learn how to speak in front of people. I had my first job interview, technically a job interview, when I was six years old doing these pageants. Now I’m able to have so much more skills that I don’t think I would have if I didn’t do this.
The worst thing that can happen is that you have fun. That’s what I always say. Just go for it.
