Area beauties and charitably-minded citizens of all ages, your opportunity to get glammed and gussied up and walk the stage of the fabled Ritz for a great cause is coming up soon.

The 2018 Miss Relay Pageant is set for Saturday, February 24 at the Ritz. Currently, there are two pageants slated for the day, with the program for children ages newborn to 9 scheduled to start at 2 p.m., and contestants ages 10 and up taking the stage beginning at 7 p.m.

General admission will be $5 for attendees through age 9; for ages 10 and up, admission will be $10.

While this fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life in Butler County was a long-time venture for the now-disbanded Harley’s Angels team, a new team, Helping Hearts Relay 4 Life, has formed and stepped forward to carry on this tradition.

“April Langford of Harley’s Angels asked me last year to please take over this event . . . we hope every team, every business, everybody who supports Relay For Life will have someone entered in the pageant,” said April Richey of the Helping Hearts team, which also includes Melonie Harrison and Kaitlyn Phelps.

Entry forms are available at Farmers Insurance (across from the Ritz), Sonic of Greenville, Cheveux Salon, Blush, Trustmark (by-pass location) and World Finance. Drop-off locations for completed forms are Farmers Insurance and Sonic of Greenville.

Entry fee is $25 per contestant and the deadline to enter is Tuesday, February 20. Optional categories available to enter include Miss Photogenic (the only option for ages newborn–9) ; ages 10 and up, Best Hair, Best Smiles, Best Eyes and Best Dress and the Dancing Queen, a category option open to ages 50 and up only. Miss Congeniality for the different age groups will be voted on that day.

“The cost to enter each optional category is $5, and a separate photo should be submitted for each category,” said Richey.

Photos need to be sent to helping.hearts18@gmail.com

According to RFL Event Lead Gerri McGinnis, the winners of the divisions will be invited to take the stage and be recognized at Relay, set for Saturday, June 23 at the Butler County Fairgrounds. The official Miss Relay will also be invited to appear at some of the other fundraising events leading up to the 2018 Relay, including the My Cancer Hero 5K set for March 10 in Greenville. 

Visit the team’s Facebook page Helping Hearts Relay 4 Life for updated information, You may also email questions to helping.hearts18@gmail.com or call 334-546-0982 for further information.