“It’s time to go Hog Wild in Home Seekers Paradise 

Whether you’re looking for a festival, fair, rodeo or ball tournament Brookhaven has everything you need. 

Visit one of our sassy boutiques, Girls Night Out, or wildlife extravaganza 

Cool off at Lake Lincoln or relax at a spa 

We’re a cool town that’s a hot spot.”

The above words are part of a promotional speech Caroleah Brister will present about her hometown in the upcoming state Miss Hospitality competition in Hattiesburg, which Brister has been busily preparing for this summer.

“I hope I make Lincoln County proud.” Brister said. “To compete, you have to be a personable person, be smart enough to promote the state and your hometown and be up to date about tourism, industry and economic development in Mississippi.”

The annual competition which began in 1949 crowns one young woman as Miss Hospitality each year, to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the state, traveling across Mississippi to promote the state’s economic development and tourism industries. Miss Hospitality attends Mississippi Day in New York City annually and receives more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes are offered through the competition.

Brister has spent weeks studying facts about Mississippi, tested with mock interviews hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and staying up to date with current events involving our state.

“It’s been a lot of hard work—she has been very dedicated,” says Caroleah’s mother Leah Brister. “She is also taking a statistic course online this summer while learning so much for Miss Hospitality.  This is a lot of good experience for her.”

Brister, daughter of Terry and Leah Brister, graduated from Enterprise High School and Copiah-Lincoln Community College. She will be attending Mississippi State University this fall to pursue a degree in marketing.

Involvement and dedication are nothing new to Brister, who spent her time in high school and at Co-Lin involved in many organizations. Brister was her class valedictorian, Student Council President, Class Vice President, Beta Club President, FBLA treasurer, Miss EHS, Class Beauty and homecoming maid. She was on the school’s basketball and tennis teams.

At Co-Lin, Brister was on the tennis team, served as Phi Theta Kappa Vice President of Scholarship,Phi Beta Lambda Vice President, was selected as Most Beautiful 2013 and Homecoming Queen 2014. She was an ITA scholar athlete, trailblazer recruiter, on the All-Mississippi Academic Second team and a Coca-Cola Bronze scholar.

When asked to give an interesting fact about our state, Brister said it was difficult to choose one.

“[Mississippi] brings over $6 billion in tourism each year,” Brister said. “We have lots of industries that people may not know about. Ingalls Shipbuilding on the coast produces materials for the whole nation. We have a Grammy museum in Cleveland. Mississippi and California are the only two states to have these museums.”

If selected as the next Miss Hospitality, Brister said her mission would be to clear misconceptions about Mississippi.

“I hope to bring change to the opinions of people that aren’t from Mississippi that have a preconceived stereotype of our state,” Brister said. “You don’t get it if you haven’t been here.”

Support your Miss Hospitality

Address all cards  and letters to:

Caroleah Brister

Lincoln County Miss Hospitality

118 College Drive

Box 5102

Hattiesburg Ms 39406

Flowers can be sent through local Hattiesburg Florists.

Tickets can be purchased at the Saenger Theater’s box office by calling 601-584-4888.