Three queens represent Hartsville at state pageants this week

HARTSVILLE - Three Hartsville queens are in Spartanburg this week vying for the title of Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina Teen. Competing in the Miss South Carolina Teen Pageant are Jessi McKenzie of McBee, who was crowned Miss Greater Hartsville Teen 2010 in January, and Morgan Holley of McBee, who was crowned Miss Hartsville Teen. Chelsea Rollins of Hartsville is competing in Miss South Carolina Scholarship Pageant as Miss Greater Hartsville.

On Wednesday night, the Miss South Carolina Teen contestants will compete in the talent portion of the competition while the Miss contestants will compete in swimsuit at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium where preliminary competition will continue through Friday. The finals are Saturday afternoon.

On Thursday night, Miss South Carolina Teen and Miss South Carolina contestants will compete in Onstage Question and Eveningwear.

On Friday night, Miss South Carolina Teen contestants will compete in Lifestyle and Physical Fitness, and Miss South Carolina contestants in the talent phase of the competition.

Eighteen-year-old Rollins is a 2010 graduate of Hartsville High. She is the daughter of Lee and Tina Rollins of Hartsville and has two older brothers, Brandon and Cameron.

Dancing most of her life, Rollins said for the talent competition, she will be performing a jazz routine to “Calabria.”

On Monday, Rollins had her interview with the judges. She said this was the part of the competition that made her the most nervous. Once that was over, she said she wouldn’t be nervous anymore, because she felt good about the other parts of the competition.

Rollins has been working out all year and eating healthy to get in shape for the swimsuit competition. She has been keeping up with current events and having questions asked of her to prepare for the interviews.

“Dancing all of my life that made the talent easy for me,” she said.

Rollins’ platform is Opt to Adopt. She wants to bring awareness to people about the number of animals in shelters waiting to be adopted.

Shortly after being crowned Miss Greater Hartsville Rollins said in an interview, “I have always been very passionate and caring about animals … ever since I could barely walk. I chose the ASPCA because they're such a wonderful organization. They help adopt out so many thousands of pets a year that really deserve homes.”

Rollins said she plans to take a year off before entering college to pursue a career in modeling in New York, and she is well on her way to achieving her goal. She was selected out of five girls to be the cover model for PromGuide Magazine this year.

In the Miss South Carolina Teen Pageant, Morgan, daughter of the Rev. Danny and Naomi Gaddy Holley of McBee, is a rising junior at McBee High School. She has a 12-year-old brother, Chase, who will be her Palmetto Prince in the Miss South Carolina Teen.

Before leaving on Friday afternoon, Holley said of her year, “It has been wonderful.”

One of the highlights was meeting Britain’s Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, who came to South Carolina in May to give out his father’s youth foundation awards, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, to contestants.

“He wasn’t at all like what you’d think he would be,” Holley said. She said he chatted with the contestants and was very natural.

Holley said she made a lot of appearances this year promoting her platform of Cancer Awareness – Teens and Tanning. The queen said she gave out more than 5,000 sunscreen samples provided to her by Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center during her talks and appearances.

Holley said too many teens are obsessed with how they look. Her message has been to look on the inside for beauty. She said long after the tan has faded, their character will still be there.

Holley was also busy this year raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network, which is the charity the Miss South Carolina Pageant supports.

After winning the crown, Holley immediately started preparing for the Miss South Carolina Teen Pageant by dieting and exercising daily. She said she also worked on her time management skills. She said the most difficult thing to do has been to manage time between school work, school activities and preparing for the pageant.

The most difficult part of the pageant competition, she said, is holding that perfect smile for so long. Her favorite part is the interview portion.

In the Miss Hartsville Teen competition in January, Holley was overall interview competition winner, was in a three-way tie for evening gown winner and tied for physical fitness winner.

For her talent in the Miss South Carolina Teen Pageant, Holley will be singing the same song she performed in the Miss Hartsville Teen competition and playing her guitar. She is singing “Our Song” by Taylor Swift.

Holley said she taught herself to play the guitar last September, and for this competition she got a new guitar which she glamorized with rhinestones as she did for the one she used in the Miss Hartsville Teen Pageant.

For the evening gown competition, Holley will be wearing a beaded deep turquoise gown with a lavender underskirt.

Being in the Miss Hartsville Teen Pageant has been a dream of Holley’s ever since she was a little girl watching the Miss South Carolina Pageant and eating homemade chocolate chip cookies, a tradition in her family on pageant night.

“The Miss South Carolina crown is more than a crown. It is a chance to make a difference,” Holley said. “I’m more than ready to take on the job as Miss South Carolina Teen.”

Holley is a cheerleader and is active in her church, Greater Height Baptist Church in Hartsville.

Jessi McKenzie, a rising senior at McBee High School, who would like to attend Coker College, majoring in education to become a special needs teacher, is representing Hartsville as Miss Greater Hartsville Teen at the Miss South Carolina Teen competition this week. She is the daughter of Eddie and Laura Byrd McKenzie of McBee. McKenzie has an older sister, Bobbi, and a younger brother, Eddie-Ramzie McKenzie, who is her Palmetto Prince.

McKenzie’s platform is the Children’s Miracle Network.

“My brother has a bone disease, and I wanted to represent my brother and the organization that helped him, the Children’s Miracle Network,” McKenzie said.

To prepare for the Miss South Carolina Teen competition, McKenzie said she has been quizzed every day since winning by her mother on current events and other topics.

“Interview is the most important and most stressful part of the competition,” McKenzie said.

For her talent, McKenzie is singing “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Fergie.

She will be wearing a sequined aqua gown in the evening gown competition.

McKenzie said the most difficult part of the competition will be waiting to see who won.

McKenzie said Friday before leaving, “I’m very nervous. I think that is a good thing. I have prepared myself so I should do well.”

McKenzie said this is her first time in the Miss America Scholarship Pageant competition although she has competed in Miss McBee Junior High and Miss McBee High.

“I did this to represent my brother,” she said, “This not just about me but about serving others and spreading the word about the Children’s Miracle Network and how fortunate we are to have good health.”

McKenzie said her brother is now walking for the first time in two years. She said she and her family have seen first hand what the Children’s Miracle Network means to families with children with medical issues.

She, too, has learned a lot this year about time management, having played three sports – track and golf, both girls and boys golf team ¬– and kept up her grades. She is also active at Middendorf Baptist Church as an Acteen and teaches the children’s sermon.

One of McKenzie’s favorite parts of her reign has been going on a cruise with other contestants. The cruise was an incentive program to sell ads for the programs. Seven teens, including Holley, and five Miss S.C. contestants went on the trip, she said.

McKenzie said winning the Miss South Carolina Teen competition would be a big responsibility.

“I’ve learned to prioritize,” she said. And she is up for the challenge.

McKenzie said she wouldn’t be able to keep up if it hadn’t been for her wonderful LED team this year of Ashley Byrd and Steve Frocchi, co-directors of the Miss Hartsville and Miss Hartsville Teen Scholarship pageants.

“I don’t have a good memory,” she said. “And I’m not a ‘pageant girl.’ They have led the way.”

McKenzie said she tries to stay natural. She doesn’t curl her hair and isn’t fussy about the way she looks. She said she did the pageant to represent what she believes in. McKenzie said she turns her focus to inner beauty.

Asked if she would consider entering at the “Miss” level next year, McKenzie said she would like to compete but not next year. She said entering college is a big change in her life, and she would need to concentrate on her studies and adjusting to her new life. McKenzie has her priorities in order, too.