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June 18, 2010

Reign of ULM’s Katherine Putnam, Miss Louisiana 2010, coming to an end

It is hard to believe that it has been almost exactly one year since Katherine Putnam, the reigning Miss Louisiana 2010, captured the hearts of the audience and the votes of the judges to take home the crown at the annual Miss Louisiana pageant.

Putnam, a senior music major at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, will introduce this year’s contestants and welcome guests and major sponsors of the pageant at 11:45 a.m., Monday, June 21, at the Monroe Civic Center theatre lobby.

The event is a kick-off to a full week of activities that culminates in the 2011 Miss Louisiana pageant on Saturday, June 26. Twenty-nine contestants, including Miss ULM Kelsi Crain, ULM senior Hope Anderson and former ULM student Erica Durr, are competing in the 47th annual event.

Preliminary competition will begin at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, June 24, and Friday, June 25. The live televised finals will feature the top 10 contestants on Saturday, June 26, as Putnam pins the crown on a newly named Miss Louisiana. Putnam has been on a whirlwind tour of the state this past week as she prepares to wrap up her reign and return to school in the fall.

“It’s been so exciting to be part of such a fabulous organization,” she said. “I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity … I’m very anxious to come back to ULM and finish my studies.”

The Miss Louisiana Organization has a volunteer-based Board of Directors that works to share the accomplishments and provide scholarship to further the education of each contestant. In 2009-2010, the Miss Louisiana Organization made available over 1.2 million dollars in cash and tuition scholarships. Miss America offers over 45 million dollars in cash and scholarships, making them the number one provider of scholarships to young women in the world.

The Organization recently thanked Miss Louisiana Pageant sponsors in a statement that included ULM and its president, Dr. James E. Cofer Sr., as well as the major television sponsors, the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau, Executive Director Alana Cooper, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, City Councilmen and the City of Monroe, Capital One Bank, MD Minerals, Louisiana Tech University, and The Atrium.

The pageant will broadcast from 8 to 10 p.m., Saturday, June 26, on local television station KNOE-TV8 in Monroe. It will also be available to watch via webcast June 24 - 26 at www.misslouisiana.org.

For tickets call the Monroe Civic Center Box Office at 318-329-0001 or for more information about the Miss Louisiana Organization, Miss Louisiana’s Outstanding Teen Pageant or the Miss America Organization visit the Web site at www.misslouisiana.com.

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