Young women will gather Friday night at the Lincoln CountyMulti-Use Facility to see who will be crowned queen in one of thearea’s longest-running pageants.

The 64th annual Brookhaven Lions Club Beauty Pageant will getunder way at 6:30 p.m. at the Multi-Use Facility. Lions Club memberRob McCreary said approximately 90 contestants had signed up byWednesday afternoon. He said the deadline to register was noontoday.

Formerly referred to as the Lions Water Carnival, the club usesthe funds raised by the pageant to help further its goals ofchecking the vision of every child in kindergarten, first andsecond grade in the county, as well as other club projects. Theevent remains one of the club’s most lucrative fundraisers.

Because of the effects Hurricane Katrina had on the community,the Lions Club presented six area shelters with $500 each last yearto assist in operations.

“We used a huge chunk of the money last year for Katrina,” LionsClub member Rob McCreary said.

The traditional contest boasted 102 contestants last year andthe Multi-Use Facility was near capacity with spectators, McCrearysaid. This will be the second year the contest has been held at thefacility.

Naomi Kesner, of Brookhaven, was named the very first Lions ClubWater Carnival Queen in 1943. She represented the En Avant Club andcompeted in a black and white striped bathing suit.

Kesner said when she competed her category included young womenof ages 12 and up. In today’s pageant, that same category is forages 17 and over. The pageant today is broken down into several agecategories ranging in age from 0 to 20.

That first year saw a total of 38 contestants with 17contestants in Kesner’s category, she said.

The reason the pageant was called the Water Carnival in 1943 wasbecause it was held around the city pool where swim teams, diveteam and synchronized swimming teams performed during the pageant,Kesner said.

The club changed the Water Carnival name when the city poolclosed and the pageant moved to a different venue, explainedMcCreary.

Originally, the club offered a variety of events related towater, Kesner said.

There was a lifesaving exhibition and swimming contests. Theclub even had colored lights that flickered the water to enhancethe beauty of what was being done. Kesner said the event wasusually filled with spectators all the way around the pool leavingonly the area where they competed clear.

Kesner said she remembered when her club was thinking of whothey would get to compete and asked her if they sponsored her wouldshe compete.

“I said yes, and I was young, there were no stipulations then.”Kesner explained. “The age group was 12 and over and didn’t have alimit.”

Times have changed somewhat since Kesner’s first pageant. Whilebathing suits are still worn today, only the younger girls areallowed the wear them, McCreary said. Contestants can be as old as20, but must be unmarried.

Girls 0 to 12 continue to compete in the traditional bathingsuits, while young women 13 to 20 now compete in evening gown.

Kesner said in her day she received a silver cup for winning thepageant. Today’s winner in the oldest group will receive a $500scholarship to the school of their choice, while the second andthird place winners will receive cash awards.

The categories vary from year to year, McCreary said. A lot hasto do with the number of contestants in each age group.

Contestants are required to model their apparel, whether bathingsuit or evening gown, and a small biography is read by the masterof ceremony.

Bill Hickman is the master of ceremonies for this year’spageant.

“He does a great job,” McCreary said.

The Multi-Use Facility was appealing to the club because it islarger facility with more parking, McCreary said.

“We’ve tried to move (the pageant) towards the end of thesummer,” McCreary said.

Judges for the event are licensed from the Pageant Association,said McCreary.

Kesner embraces her title as first winner of the Lions WaterCarnival and stays busy today singing for the various churchorganizations she belongs to and for local nursing homes.

Kesner said she wouldn’t be attending this year’s event, butenjoyed reflecting and reading old clippings on the beautypageant.

“I didn’t look at it as any kind of exemplary kind of thing,”Kesner said. “(The event) had wholesome entertainment.”