OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — After months of waiting for the green light, the Mrs. Nebraska America and Miss Nebraska for America Pageant took place at the Scottish Rite Center in Omaha.
COVID-19 put plans on hold and the pageant was postponed twice. The health department finally gave the approval for the show to take place this past weekend.
The gowns, glitz and glamour were all halted due to the pandemic. But with some changes, the months of preparing and waiting paid off.
"We had to cut capacity to 50 percent so we were able to hold about 250 people. We encouraged people in the audience as well as family and friends to live stream so people who couldn't get in could still see what was going on," said Sarah Christianson, Co-Director of the Mrs. Nebraska for America Pageant.
Every other row was roped off with no-one allowed to sit in that area. Masks were worn by those sitting in the audience.
"During the interviews we had to be six feet apart. They broke us up into groups, my group had four and I believe the other two groups had five, they split us up," said Ms. Central City, Alissa Harrington.
Judges also wore masks and were separated by a full table in between their groups.
Husbands sat in the audience, taking care of the the kids as the ladies finally took to the stage.
Christianson adds, "We tried to keep them in the loop as much as possible, they knew within the last month that this was the date and they just kept working toward preparing. We knew we were going to do this and then finally, yes, it was really going to happen and they were ready and so prepared."
"It was very much being open to change and just going with the flow adds, Harrington, Mrs. Central City.
As it is normal for only one lady to be on stage at a time, being the center of attention, not many changes had to be done there.
The national competition will take place in Las Vegas. The date is still being decided. For a list of winners visit www.mrsnebraskaamerica.com.
