Miss Forest Festival 2023 Crowned in Hardeman County, Tennessee
The Miss Forest Festival competition, which was held in Hardeman County, closed out the annual Forest Festival at the Luez Theater on Sunday, September 10, 2023, with four young contestants competing for the prestigious title of being named Miss Forest Festival 2023. Sydney Caen and Holly Ferguson of Memphis, Tera Townsend of Huntingdon, and Diana Moseley of Murfreesboro came ready with poise, confidence, and talent to show why they should be named Miss Forest Festival 2023.
Kandy Shackelford opened the evening by singing the National Anthem and the Emcee was Miss Tennessee Brandee Mills, who was crowned earlier this summer on July 1, 2023. The judges for the evening were Dylan Hill, Malissa Harvey-Hudson, Natalie Hooper-Sowder, Dr. Diane Hicks-Watkins, and Bo White.
Miss Forest Festival is one of the many local competitions held across the state with the winning contestant advancing to the annual Miss Tennessee Competition.
The contestants were scored in the following areas:
- Private Interview with Panel of Judges (30 percent)
- On-Stage Conversation (10 percent)
- Fitness (20 percent)
- Talent (90 seconds) (20 percent)
- Evening Wear (20 percent)
After the votes were tabulated, Holly Ferguson was crowned Miss Forest Festival 2023 by Miss Forest Festival 2022 Myracle Evans, as her parents Rita and Bart Ferguson proudly looked on. With her win, Holly also received a $1,000 education scholarship.
“I am just so thrilled and feel like I am coming back home. I had the honor of being Miss Forest Festival 2021 (representing Hardeman County). I get to be in this community some more and bring my community service initiative here, and stay with Lisa [Higgs] and Amber [Moore] another year,” said Holly who is looking forward to the opportunity of sharing more about her initiative. “I feel like I didn’t get into the schools enough, so I am really excited to go back to the schools and keep educating children on traumatic brain injury awareness.”
Holly’s initiative was prompted by her brother, Kyle, a fourth-year veterinary student at Mississippi State University who will graduate from the school in May 2024.
“He was a sophomore in college coming home for Thanksgiving and somehow lost control of his car. The car traveled 300 feet from the highway, flipped five times, and the roof was crushed,” said Bart Ferguson, describing his son’s accident. “He had a traumatic brain injury with brain sheer and two brain bleeds at the base of his skull. Through multiple miracles that God performed, he survived and is doing well, and just celebrated his first-year anniversary.”
Holly has participated in the Miss America Organization since she was 11 years old and has seen personal growth over the years.
“So much about it is self-growth. I have learned to become more confident, and I’ve got peace about things I can’t control. At the end of the day, it is five people’s opinions on me, so, win or lose, I am able to just take that and kind of set it aside,” said Holly confidently. “I know who I am, I know what I am worth, and the interview skills are priceless. I am able to talk and just connect with people in a way that I never would have been if I wasn’t involved in this organization.”
Miss Forest Festival co-directors Lisa Higgs and Amber Moore have worked with the Miss Forest Festival competition for four years and five years, respectively. Each year they learn more to improve the competition and are already thinking about the 2024 Miss Forest Festival.
“We are seeing things we need to do each time a little bit better,” said Moore who also worked with the competition 20 years ago. “We are proud of all of the contestants. They all did a great job!.“
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