Mrs. North Carolina to judge Winterfest Pageant

The Little Miss, Little Master and Teen Winterfest Pageant just got a little more serious last week when pageant veteran and reigning Mrs. North Carolina Debbie Miller agreed to be one of the competition’s judges.

Miller, from Mooresville, won the Mrs. North Carolina Crown last June in the statewide pageant held at Newton-Conover Auditorium.

The Winterfest Pageant will be held at the Blowing Rock School Auditorium on Saturday, Jan. 21, and applications for contestants are being taken now.

A true pageant veteran, Miller has won a number of prestigious titles over the years, including Miss Georgia Fair, Miss WYKZ and Miss Hawaiian Tropic, among others. As a model, she has appeared in ads for Dixie Crystals sugar, Ocean Pacific Suntan Products and National Smokeout Week. She has also appeared on postcards promoting Hilton Head Island and in several publications.

Originally from Augusta, Ga., Miller attended Georgia Southern College with a major in nursing. She lives in Mooresville with her husband, Shannon, and three boys, Jordan, Dylan and Chase.

Currently, she works as the office manager for Lake Norman Dredging, the company she owns with her husband. She is also a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and a licensed North Carolina real estate broker.

Miller took a break from the pageant circuit in her 20s and 30s to raise her children. Last year, she decided to re-enter the pageant world through the Mrs. North Carolina Pageant as a vehicle to help promote Go Red For Women. Go Red is affiliated with the American Heart Association and helps promote awareness, education and prevention of heart disease in women.

Both of her parents have heart disease, with her mother having had bypass surgery several years ago and her father having had quadruple bypass surgery. Both parents are doing well after adopting a more healthy lifestyle.

As the reigning Mrs. North Carolina, Miller has attended the Governor’s Conference for Women as an ambassador for Go Red for Women, the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Walk for Wishes, and events for Juvenille Diabetes.

Applications for the Little Miss, Little Master and Teen Winterfest Pageants are available at the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, United Community Bank in Blowing Rock, Blowing Rock Elementary School and online at http://www.blowingrockwinterfest.com.