Whitley County Junior Miss program moves to September in 2009
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Scholarships from the most recent Whitley County Junior Miss have been awarded. Category winners, shown below from left, were Emily Yoder, Kara Mawhorter, Paige Hunsberger and Julie Wilkinson.
By Pam Thompson
Members of the Board of Directors of Whitley County Junior Miss at their October meeting changed the month of the upcoming 45th program. Other action taken at the meeting was the awarding of $2600 in scholarship money to category winners and the winner of Whitley County Junior Miss. 
The 45th Junior Miss program is scheduled for Sept. 12, 2009, 7 p.m. in the Newell Rice Auditorium of Columbia City High School. Traditionally, the program has been in the month of October.
Also changed was the number of rehearsals. There will be eight rehearsals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays beginning Aug. 19, 2009. Recruitment of prospective contestants will be at the end of this school year and the early summer.
Any high school senior girl who resides in Whitley County or attends high school in Whitley County is eligible to participate.
The most recent winner, category winners, runner-ups and the scholarship amounts are: 2009 Whitley County Junior Miss, Kara Mawhorter, $700; first runner-up, Paige Hunsberger, $400; second runner-up, Emily Yoder, $300; panel interview, Paige Hunsberger, $200; scholastics, Kara Mawhorter, $200; talent, Kara Mawhorter, $200; fitness, Kara Mawhorter, $200; self expression, Kara Mawhorter, $200; and Spirit of Junior Miss, Julie Wilkinson, $200.
Mawhorter will represent Whitley County at the Indiana Junior Miss Program in Frankfort, Indiana. Preliminary performances are Feb. 19 and 20 with the eight finalists competing for the title of Indiana Junior Miss on Feb. 21, 2009. All performances are at Frankfort High School.