Lauren Williams, the daughter of Robbie and Lisa Williams of McKenzie, has spent the last few months preparing for the time of her young life. The 17-year-old Christian Crenshaw Academy senior left Friday, January 11 to journey to Montgomery for what she fully expects to be 10 &uot;busy, busy, fun-filled&uot; days.

Williams, Butler County’s reigning Junior Miss, will be representing her home county in the state Junior Miss program. The preliminaries and final competition are scheduled for Friday, January 18 and Saturday, January 19.

Williams is proud to claim the south Butler community where she was &uot;born and raised&uot; as her hometown. But she has close, long-time ties to the city of Luverne also. Her mother Lisa has been an English teacher at Crenshaw Christian since her daughter’s kindergarten days. Mrs. Williams also serves as the senior class sponsor at the school.

The Junior Miss scholarship program is known for its encouragement of ‘excellence in all areas’, something Williams finds very important.

&uot;I feel really fortunate to be involved with a program that emphasizes much more than just your looks…grades, activities, physical fitness, so much more counts with Junior Miss,&uot; she comments.

A look at Williams’ school activities would seem to indicate her desire to be the ‘well-rounded’ young woman the Junior Miss scholarship program encourages. She is captain of the varsity cheerleaders and Lady Cougar basketball team, yearbook editor, vice-president of the senior class, a Girl’s State representative and member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Senior Beta Club and National Honor Society. Williams is also listed in the Who’s Who Among American High School Students. She also enjoys gymnastics and dance, talents she puts to good use in her colorful, kooky &uot;Cuban Pete&uot; talent number for the county program.

Williams plans to attend the University of West Alabama in the fall where she will pursue a degree in pediatric physical therapy.

Since winning the title of Butler County Junior Miss, Williams has been busily preparing for the state competition. &uot;We’ve been working to lengthen and perfect my talent program for state, getting my costumes ready, conducting mock interviews, a little bit of everything,&uot; she says. She sings the praises of Greenville seamstress Shirley Huff for the &uot;fantastic&uot; and timely job she did on Williams’ program costumes and expresses her deep appreciation for the support and encouragement of the CCA Junior Miss Club.

Williams looks forward to the action-packed itinerary planned for the contestants in the days leading up to the final competition. While there will be plenty of practice, practice, practice for the young ladies, plenty of &uot;downtime&uot; will also be allowed.

&uot;There are special recreation activities to attend and luncheons sponsored by the Lion’s Club, Kiwanis Club and the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association among others,&uot; she explains.

Williams has already met her &uot;super-nice&uot; host family and is sure they will make those 10 days without family contact a lot easier. &uot;I won’t be able to talk to or get e-mail from my folks for the 10 days…that might get a little hard,&uot; she admits.

She is excited her roommate will be Dale County’s Junior Miss, who coincidentally provided entertainment at the Butler County program. &uot;And it’s great we have two county Junior Misses from the same school-that doesn’t happen very often,&uot; says Williams, referring to her fellow CCA student Laura Lynn Lester, Crenshaw County’s reigning Junior Miss.

When asked what her greatest challenge has been as she prepares for the state competition, Williams ponders the question for a few moments before replying.

&uot;Honestly, I have had so much fun with this program and getting this great chance to have this experience, earn money for my education, meet new people and just enjoy it all—it doesn’t seem like a challenge. All the women in the CCA Junior Miss Club have been so kind and so much fun-it’s been great being with them. It’s been a wonderful experience.&uot;