LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Editor's Note: The attached video is from June 2019.
The Miss Arkansas Board of Directors has announced the 2020 State Pageant will be postponed due to safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the Miss America Organization making the announcement today that there would not be a national competition in 2020, and that they would be moving to the Fall of 2021, and with the state our nation is currently in, we felt like the right thing to do for all involved was to postpone our 2020 competition as well,” said Jessie Bennett, Executive Director of the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Organization.
According to the organization, local executive directors and the Miss and Outstanding Teen candidates were given the news on Friday. The candidates will have the opportunity to retain their local title and compete June 13-19, 2021 for Miss Arkansas and Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen respectively.
Darynne Dahlem, Miss Arkansas 2019, and Sarah Cate Lay, Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen 2019, will continue their service until the new state titleholders are crowned.
The organization also announced the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Foundation will award each of the 2020 Miss candidates with a $1,000 scholarship. Each of the 2020 Outstanding Teens will receive a $500 scholarship.
In a Facebook post, the organization stated:
"The Miss America Organization has long been the largest provider of scholarships for women in the world. The Miss Arkansas Board and Miss Arkansas Scholarship Foundation Board are committed to providing the best possible scholarship opportunities and experiences for the women who participate. The Miss Arkansas Board is also looking at some other exciting opportunities for not only our existing class of titleholders but for potential candidates as well. Those will be announced in the coming months."