In October, a new Miss Elk City/Queen of the West board was established to carry on the Miss Elk City/Queen of the West pageant in Elk City. Heading up the new board are co-directors, Elk City’s Rylee Varnell and Oklahoma City’s Abigail Chitwood. Other board members are Dena Chitwood, Oklahoma City, who serves as the judge chairman and Tiffany Regan, Elk City, who is the production chairman.
The team scrambled to organize and continue the pageant that is part of the Miss Oklahoma and Miss America organizations. The local competition will be held in the Kelli O’Hara Performing Arts Center, located on North Pioneer, Saturday, Dec. 16th, at 6 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at The Vogue Boutique or email [email protected].
This year they have added a Miss Elk City Teen to the Miss Elk City and Miss Queen of the West competitions. The Miss Elk City Teen will be girls from the age of 13 years old to 17 years old, while the Miss Elk City age group is from 17 years old to 28 years old, which is the same for the Miss Queen of the West.
“There are 16 girls competing in the categories. They changed the competitions to the interview, an onstage question, the activewear, the talent, and evening gown. There will be five certified judges who will be coming,” Varnell said.
Lake Carpenter will be serving as the emcee for the event. The 2023 Miss Queen of the West Mackenzie McIntyre will be performing. Sponsors for the competition include Troy Jones, Pedro’s Mexican Grill, Holiday Inn Express, Hylton’s Flowers, Crowning Around, Tres Jolie, Elk City Walmart, Elk City’s Rotary Club, The Vogue Boutique, and the Elk City Newspaper.
Co-director, Abigail Chitwood, is an associate professor of biology at Southwestern Christian University in Bethany and a graduate research assistant at the University of Central Oklahoma. She earned her Master of Science in Biology from UCO and Bachelor of Science in Biology from Southern Nazarene University. She excels in public speaking, microbiology lab techniques, university level teaching, laboratory research, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reactions, DNA/RNA extraction and purification, leadership, microscopy, communication, field research, bacterial culturing, agarose gel electrophoresis, and RNA isolation.
Co-director, Varnell teaches language arts at the Elk City Intermediate School. She earned her Master of Educational Leadership from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and her Bachelor of Business Administration from Northeastern Oklahoma State University, and her Associate of Science from Western Oklahoma State College. She attended Southwestern Technology Center where she studied biomedical sciences, and she graduated from Navajo High School in 2014. She also taught at Sayre Public Schools where she coached softball, basketball, and was the cheer coach. Varnell’s goal is to create a culture of inclusivity and provide a safe, encouraging learning environment for every student and teacher to achieve success.
Join the board in welcoming a new era in the Miss Elk City/Queen of the West competition, which will take place Saturday, Dec. 16th. They have worked hard to get the event to come together with little to no experience in producing such a show. Their hard work will provide scholarships to these young ladies, which will further their education and career goals.
