Less than two weeks remain before the deadline for LincolnCounty girls and young women to enter into the 2009 BrookhavenLions Club Beauty Pageant, a locally prestigious competition andone of the club’s chief fundraisers for its charitableprograms.

The deadline for submitting applications and photos is July 29.Girls from age 1-20 may apply, and applications are available atlocal banks, glamour shops and the Brookhaven-Lincoln CountyChamber of Commerce. The entry fee is $45.

Pageant qualifying will be held Aug. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at theLincoln County Multi-Purpose Facility. The pageant will be held thefollowing night at the same time and place.

Contestants will be divided into nine categories based on age.Contestants age 1-12 will model swimwear for the competition, whilegirls 13 and older will wear evening gowns.

For girls age 17 and up, being named the 2009 Lions Club Queenwill earn a $750 scholarship to the school of the contestant’schoice. Second and third place winners will receive cash prizes of$250 and $150, respectively. Winners in all other age groups willbe awarded trophies.

Club president Dr. Donna Foster said pageant organizers areexpecting around 100 girls to enter the competition this year. Shesaid the club is putting extra emphasis on selling ads for thepageant’s program to support its charitable programs.

“We want to have the best year ever,” Foster said. “The ads arevery important for all the projects we do to help people.”

Contestants may be supported in the program with ads fromfriends or family, and the top three sellers who go over the $750mark will receive $250, $125 and $100 and first, second and thirdplace, respectively. Ad sales must also meet the July 29deadline.

Brookhaven Lions Club associate member and past pageantorganizer Rob McCreary said the annual contest is one of two majorfundraisers the club holds each year.

With the pageant’s proceeds, McCreary said club members wouldcarry on their traditional outreach programs like conducting freeeye examinations for elementary students, providing scholarships toCopiah-Lincoln Community College and for Mississippi School of theArts students, holding leadership camps and financially assistingother clubs and organizations throughout Lincoln County.

McCreary said the pageant is always strong and meetsexpectations because of its deep roots in the area. He said thepageant began years ago at a public swimming pool on the grounds ofLipsey School.

“It’s got a little prestige to it,” he said. “People have beenin it, and people know the Lions Club Queen. People even stillremember her as the Water Carnival Queen. It’s taken on a life ofits own. A few years ago we were thinking about not doing itanymore, but we had so many people, we kept it going.”