When the Zionsville Lions Club agreed to host the Miss Indiana competition each year, it came with some unique challenges.
Lions Club members not only host the annual kick-off dinner and act as ushers throughout the competition weekend, but they also coordinate the parade that many in the community look forward to.
Contestants from the Miss Indiana and Miss Indiana’s Teen pageants are in Zionsville the last week of the month in preparation for the competitions.
The Miss Indiana competition is the preliminary to the Miss America pageant. The Miss Indiana’s Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative of the State of Indiana in the Miss America’s Teen pageant.
This year’s parade, which will take place at noon on Saturday, June 29, will take all contestants down Zionsville’s main street.
John Wilkins has served as President of the Lions Club for the Miss Indiana Pageant since 2018. He is who many might recognize from visiting area car shows, leaving notes on car windshields, and making phone calls to car owners who have participated in the past.
“There are 38 Miss Indiana contestants and 30 Miss Teen contestants, so I need 70 cars (for the contestants to ride during the pageant),” Wilkins said. “In addition, there are 45 children, ages 5 to 13, participating in the Rising Stars program and a portion of those cars must be large enough to seat more than one person.”
Currently, 10 Corvettes from the Star City Corvette Club are scheduled to attend, and residents of Zionsville and surrounding areas will bring 11 classic cars, including a 1935 Cadillac, a 1948 Chrysler and a 1960 Corvette, among many others.
Wilkins gets it down to a science, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
“I have 120 names on my list each year and I would say about 70 percent come back for next year. Some people have sold their car or are going on vacation,” Wilkins said. “It really takes the entire community for this event.”
Marsha Akard of Zionsville has driven her convertible in the parade every year since 2005.
Although she was originally recruited because her daughter, Leigh Ann, was president of the Zionsville Lions Club at the time, it was so much fun that it has continued for the past 19 years.
She said the atmosphere at Stonegate Elementary School when the cars line up and the girls find their vehicle is something not many get to witness.
“The teens get there first and they’re a little anxious and they try to find their car pretty quickly,” Akard said. “You have time to talk to them and learn about their platform and how they got involved. I drove Keegan Conner, Miss Teen 2023, last year and I had the opportunity to drive Katie Stam, Miss America 2009. All of the women are simply extraordinary.”
He also knows that as a long-time Zionsville resident, he represents the city in a special way.
“Several of the girls have never been to Zionsville, so as we go along, I can point things out to them and I always tell them to let me know when they see their family on the parade route so we can stop and take pictures. Akard said.
Getting involved is pretty simple.
Volunteers must have a convertible and be willing to spend the afternoon driving down the brick street, passing more than 2,500 people.
“It’s a tremendous day. It’s everything you think it is,” Wilkins said. “These young women are very positive. “They all have community service platforms and when it all comes together, it is important to the organization and to the city of Zionsville.”
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