The Miss Virginia pageant is next week at the Roanoke Civic Center. Among the contestants will be Lindsay Morris, who was crowned Miss Roanoke Valley last September at Cave Spring High School.

Here’s a release from the Miss Roanoke Valley folks about her and what she’ll be performing:

ROANOKE ROYALTY VIES FOR STATE CROWN
Miss Roanoke Valley Competes Alongside 28 Others for the Title of Miss Virginia

Lindsay Morris, a 19-year-old rising junior at James Madison University, will represent the Roanoke Valley at the 74th-annual Miss Virginia Pageant at the Roanoke Civic Center June 25-27th. Even though preliminary competitions do not start until Thursday evening, all 29 of the ladies hoping for the Miss Virginia crown will move in to their week-long home at the Hotel Roanoke on Sunday, June 20th. Contestants will compete in various phases of competition including a ten-minute interview, talent, lifestyle and physical fitness in swimsuit, evening gown, and an on-stage interview question.

Morris won the title of Miss Roanoke Valley this past September at Cave Spring High School after being judged based on her private interview with the judges, physical fitness in swimsuit, evening gown presentation, performance of a classical piano piece, and an on-stage question. A student of piano since a very young age, Lindsay will also play an arrangement of Greig’s Piano Concerto in A-minor during the talent portion of the Miss Virginia Pageant. While this will be her first trip to the Miss Virginia stage, Lindsay is familiar with state-level pageantry. In 2005, she won the title of Miss Maryland’s Outstanding Teen despite the fact that she had never before competed in a pageant. She says that she was actually encouraged by her piano instructor to enter the pageant as a young teen, convinced that her personality and musical talent would fare well. Now in 2009, Morris is hoping that her talent and character will once again catch the eyes of judges. If selected as the new Miss Virginia on the last Saturday in June, Lindsay will not only promote the Miss Virginia platform of “Right Decisions, Right Now”, but also the Miss Virginia and Miss America Organizations, Children’s Miracle Network, and her personal platform of Project ECHOES (Environment-Culture-Heritage: Our Earth’s Sustainability). To help Lindsay make it into the Top 11 finalists, you can go to www.missva.com and cast your vote for her.

The young lady who wins the title of Miss Virginia 2009 will go on to compete at Miss America in Las Vegas. The Miss Roanoke Valley Organization is an official preliminary to the Miss Virginia Pageant, a member of the Miss America family. The Miss America Organization (MAO), along with its state and local organizations, are the largest provider of scholarships to women in the world. In 2007, the MAO adopted the Children’s Miracle Network as its national platform. During her year of service, the reigning Miss America serves as National Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN). As of May 5, 2009, the Miss America Organization has raised over $2.8 million for CMN.

For links to previous pageant coverage, see below:

OTHER PAGEANT COVERAGE:
* June 16: Photos of Miss Roanoke Valley at weekend events
* May 19: Pageant princesses at Local Colors
* May 5: Pageant princesses mark Chic-fil-A anniversary
* April 28: Pageant princesses at pancake breakfast
* April 23: Photos of pageant princesses at recent events
* March 13: Little Miss Roanoke Valley helps crown pageant winner at Richfield
* March 6: Photo of Outstanding Teen Abby Erdman and other pageant winners
* March 2: Abby Erdman of Southwest Roanoke County crowned Miss Outstanding Teen for Smith Mountain Lake.
* Feb. 25: Pageant princesses serve pancakes at the Franklin Road IHOP
* Dec. 15: Photos of Little Miss Roanoke Valley in Roanoke Christmas parade
* Dec. 10: Photos of Miss Roanoke Valley, Miss Teen Roanoke Valley and Miss Pre-Teen Roanoke Valley at Azario’s open house in Southwest Roanoke County
* Dec. 8: Photos of Little Miss Roanoke Valley (and other pageant winners) in the Vinton Christmas parade
* Sept. 30: More photos from the Miss Roanoke Valley pageant at Cave Spring High School.
* Sept. 29: Photos from the Miss Roanoke Valley pageant