It's pageant week in Portales

PORTALES - Quay County will have a say in who wins the Miss New Mexico Scholarship Pageant this weekend in Portales.

That's because Logan's Taylor sisters - Lauralann and Leah - are both competing for the title.

Miss Quay County - Lauralann Taylor, 18 - said her sister - Miss Portales' Leah Taylor - introduced her to the pageant.

Both girls are students at Eastern New Mexico University and are the daughters of John and Laurel Taylor.

"I just thought it was a great opportunity to help my friends help my community," Lauralann said.

"Just being able to make friends and get the experience of working and communicating (is what I look forward to most). So far it's been a lot of fun, a lot of hard work but a lot of worth it."

Forty-seven young ladies ranging from 13 to 25 years old are scheduled to compete for the crown in the 2017 Miss New Mexico and outstanding teen pageants.

Pageant Director Greg Smith said preparations for the 2017 festivities have been going wonderfully, despite recent controversy with last year's pageant winners.

"We don't want to make any of this about them," Smith said of 2016 Miss New Mexico Stephanie Chavez and 2016 Miss New Mexico's Outstanding Teen Madison Belcher. "This is about these 47 girls competing, and it's about their chance to have the spotlight."

Belcher and Chavez recently accused the pageant of not paying them their scholarship winnings while Smith said neither girl had turned in the appropriate paperwork to receive the money.

The preliminary pageant competitions for miss and teen contestants will be held Thursday and Friday nights in the Eastern New Mexico University Theatre Center while the finals are to be held Saturday afternoon and evening.

"We're certainly excited about the pageant and about crowning the Miss New Mexico 2017. It's been a great year," Smith said. "It's fun to see how the girls have grown and how they compete. The competition level is high, so it's going to be really interesting to see who the winners are."