Three years ago, it looked as if a Miss Alabama/Miss America preliminary in the county would no longer exist.

The Miss Camellia program, the original pageant preliminary held in Greenville, had abruptly ended.

However, a group of area women – some with extensive pageant experience, many with none at all – banded together to form a new open preliminary, the Miss Greater Greenville Scholarship Program.

Three years later, the program is drawing accolades from every direction, including being chosen as &#8220Best New Program for 2005” by the Miss Alabama Program.

Last weekends' event at the Ritz was described in a letter written by one contestant's mother, Denise Cowles, as &#8220a wonderful experience…one that shows what can be ‘right' about the Miss Alabama/Miss /America system.”

Cowles wrote, &#8220The (Miss GG) volunteers…were the absolute definition of ‘southern hospitality.'”

Cowles also praised the &#8220well-organized” pageant, &#8220excellent” judges, and lauded Ralph Stacy, emcee for the evening, as &#8220by far the best we've seen.”

In a year when the Miss America Program has faced many, many changes, including a new location, Las Vegas, and a new television &#8220home,” CMT, there has also been a revival of interest in this all-American institution.

We are most thankful the idea of changing Miss America into a reality show was dropped. There are far too many of those – and far too few programs offering valuable scholarship monies to the nation's young women.

We applaud Sue Arnold, director of the Miss Greater Greenville Scholarship Program, and her dedicated band of volunteers for making the Miss GG weekend such a positive experience for contestants, their families and judges alike.

Miss GG has proven a &#8220win-win situation” for our city and for outstanding young women like Kimberly Kirby, the latest to wear the crown.