Miss Iowa and Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen Competitions at the Adler Theatre -- June 10 and 11. (pictured: 2021 Miss Iowa Grace Lynn Keller)
Friday, June 10, and Saturday, June 11, 7 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
On June 10 and 11, 30 talented and intelligent young women from across the state will compete for top honors in the preliminaries and finals for the Miss Iowa and Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen Competitions, with guests at Davenport's Adler Theatre invited to share the excitement as this year's candidates compete in the categories of Talent, Red Carpet, On-Stage Interview/Social Impact Pitch, and Lifestyle & Fitness.
The Miss Iowa competition is the official preliminary for the state of Iowa in the Miss America Scholarship Competition, and is held in Davenport every June. During this event, both Miss Iowa and Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen are crowned. In order to compete for Miss Iowa, you must be at least 17 years old and cannot be over 25 years old before December 31 in the year you hope to compete. In addition, you must reside, work, or attend school in Iowa, and also need to be awarded a preliminary title from a local competition. To date, no contestant from Iowa has ever won the national Miss America title, although two Miss Iowa titleholders have been named first runner-up. Miss Iowa of 1970 Cheryl Boone, meanwhile, competed in the Miss America 1971 pageant as the program's first African-American contestant. Grace Lynn Keller of Iowa City was crowned Miss Iowa for 2021, while Maggie Leach of Pella was crowned Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen.
Over the years, a number of competitors for the national Miss America pageant have achieved runner-up status: 1st runners-up – Joanne MacDonald (1959) and Catherine Lemkau (1993); 2nd runners-up – Susan Thompson (1969) and Olivia Myers (2009); 3rd runner-up – Lisa Somodi (1992); 4th runner-up – Mariah Cary (2013); Top 10 – Lynda Jeanne Formanek (1968), Renee Stuedemann (1973), Lori Froeling (1980), Kerri Rosenberg (1991), Diana Reed (2008), Jessica Pray (2012), and Kelly Koch (2017); and Top 12 – Aly Olson (2015) and Taylor Wiebers (2016). Several of these young women were also victors of individual preliminary awards: Lifestyle & Fitness – Susan Thompson, Catherine Lemkau, and Taylor Wiebers; and Talent – Lemkau, Wiebers, Lisa Somodi, and Diana Reed.
As Miss Iowa, the reigning Miss Iowa Grace Lynn Keller's Social Impact Initiative is "Read to Succeed: Promoting Literacy in Grades K-3." She has been touring public libraries throughout Iowa leading story times and promoting creative writing with kids, in addition to attending and speaking at charitable fundraisers and community events. Before she was crowned Miss Iowa 2021, Keller was the writer, host, and producer of her own podcast, and in addition to her Miss Iowa duties, she is writing a novel. Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen for 2021 Maggie Leach, meanwhile, boasts a Social Impact Initiative called "Lighten the Load for Families in Poverty." As part of her initiative, Leach expanded "Operation Share the Load" to help impoverished families afford the laundromat
Davenport's Miss Iowa and Miss Iowa's Outstanding Teen Competition preliminaries will begin at 7 p.m. on June 10, with admission $53 to the Friday-night event, and the competitions' finals will be held at 7 p.m. on June 11, tickets Saturday-evening seats available for $63. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 and visit AdlerTheatre.com.
