Miss Hammonton. It’s a title that many girls wouldn’t mind having. After all, who doesn’t want to wear a crown?

However, this announcement was made over the intercom on Friday, March 28: “Attention all students, the Miss Hammonton pageant has been cancelled.”

Why is this? According to special education teacher Mrs. Margaret Inemer, who organizes the event, several participants dropped out of competition.

The pageant has been a part of school tradition for the past 10 years, 7 of which have been under the direction of Inemer. Inemer took on the role because she had experience doing pageants herself throughout college. In fact, in 2001, Inemer even competed for the title of Miss New Jersey.

The contest differs from Mr. Hammonton in a few respects.  Instead of opening up the pageant to only seniors, Miss Hammonton contestants can be in any grade.  The talent portion must be done individually, not with other participants. The rest of the program is similar. After a judging panal evaluates the contestents’ casualwear, formalwear, and talent portions, the top 5 girls are selected and then by random asked questions on various topics. Winners receive everything from flower bouquets to gift cards and baskets donated by partipcating sponsors. And, of course, the crown is awarded to the winner.

So, if most of the contest is the same, why is the Miss Hammonton pageant less popular than Mr. Hammonton?

A few things come up in that discussion. When many think about Mr. Hammonton, they regard it more as an entertaining, comedy show whereas Miss Hammonton is viewed more seriously. Also, what turned off many potential participants is that the talent portion had to be done alone on sage.

Senior Maryann Nowlan thinks the pageant would benefit if more groups in the school were involved in planning and preparing for the pageant itself.

“Perhaps if the school as a whole gets more involved, [it would be more popular]. Not as many students help out with [planning] Miss Hammonton like they do with Mr. Hammonton,”said senior Maryann Nowlan. “I think a lot of people go because they or their friends are part of the event.”

Senior Taylor Downey thinks that the overall competition could be taken a little less seriously.

“I wish the contestants didn’t take it so seriously because it is not as fun to watch,” she explained. “Because of that, not as many people go.”

Melanie Mclaughlin, who is a big supporter for Mr. Hammonton, thinks that Miss Hammonton needs to focus on one set idea like the boys competition does each year.

“It needs to have a theme just like the guys have every year,” she said.

McLaughlin is referring to the fact that two years ago the Mr. Hammonton pageant had a Hunger Games theme, and this year the contestants each represented a calendar month.