By GINA B. GOOD

PVT

Stormi Caprice and Sharon Cahlan brought new crowns home to Pahrump from the Ms. Senior Nevada Pageant held August 24-25.

Caprice was selected as fourth runner-up in the contest and Cahlan was crowned Ms. Congeniality. Two other contestants from Pahrump performed at the pageant: Meg Bozam, first runner-up for Ms. Senior Nye County and Sharalee Jimerfield, a member of the Queen’s Court.

Caprice and Cahlan will join other winners from past years in upcoming showcase performances around the state.

Caprice, the reigning Ms. Senior Nye County Queen, performed a Kander and Ebb routine, dancing and singing to “Everybody’s Girl” from the musical “Steel Pier.”

The choreographed comedy number made her a favored contestant in the filled to capacity showroom at the South Point Casino, in Las Vegas.

Caprice moved to Pahrump in 2007 from Las Vegas “to get out of Dodge into the more peaceful surroundings” of the town she has fully adopted and loves.

Her first performance was at the age of two and a half; at 18, Caprice earned her “first professional gig on the road with a traveling band as a dancer.” However, her diminutive height made being a dancer in Las Vegas a challenge.

“Then I found that as a singer, my height helped because no one expected such a big voice to come out of such a small body,” Caprice said. Her career in musical theater took her all over the country, including 20 years in Las Vegas. She loves performing Broadway numbers.

Cahlan performed “Thoroughly Modern Millie” in the state pageant, tapping and singing her way across the stage. “I was all over the stage,” she said. “I love communicating with the audience.”

Cahlan admitted she didn’t think she would make it to the state pageant because “we have such great talent here in Pahrump.”

She credited B.J. Hetrick, with teaching her how to dance and helping her be her best.

“I had never tapped before and I am basically shy. B.J. brought me out of my shell and she had confidence in me. That gave me confidence in myself. She is very instrumental in my accomplishments with the pageants.”

Meg Bozam performed the same Hawaiian dance number she did in the Pahrump pageant for Ms. Senior Nye County. The hula was a natural for the Hawaiian-born Bozam who moved to Pahrump and bought a home with her husband in 2007.

“After spending a year in Las Vegas, we decided we liked the laid back atmosphere in Pahrump,” she said. “It’s just the right environment for us.

“I would never imagine that I would see a hummingbird come to a feeder in my yard. I can see it through my window. It is an experience I never had before. Our backyard is full of mature pine trees and it was beautiful this winter when it snowed. We love Pahrump.”

Sharalee Jimerfield has been with Scotty Winegar’s group of talented senior women, Dancin’ Step Follies, for four years. “I have to work hard to keep up,” she admitted. “You have to push yourself and drive yourself.”

Jimerfield, a 23-year resident of Pahrump, admits she loves the pageants and “I totally adore these ladies I am here with. The reason you run for queen is because you want to do one more thing in your life. This is a wonderful opportunity because every woman who walks up on that stage has done her best.” She sat on a seven-foot cutout of a moon and sang “Allegeny Moon” while the moon was pulled on and off the stage in Las Vegas.

After her first stroke, Jimerfield realized she could sit and feel sorry for herself or get up and do the best she could. “I love being with all these beautiful women so I try my best,” she said, and added she greatly enjoys participating in the senior programs with Winegar’s group. “The people sing with us and laugh with us. It is so wonderful.

“I think God put us here to love each other. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose a pageant because when you walk onto the stage, you are with your friends.”

Each contestant thanked Winegar for carrying through the local pageant and coordinating with the state pageant. Winegar is the director of the Nye County pageant and is already planning for next year’s contest. For more information about becoming a contestant or volunteering to help with projects, call Winegar at 727-0309.