Walking on stage as one of the top five contestants in Saturday night’s Miss Dawson County pageant, Kirstie Broadwell smiled confidently at the crowd of friends and family in the audience.

“Go Kirstie. We love you. You look beautiful,” one friend called out.

A few moments later the Riverview Middle School auditorium erupted with applause as the Dawson County High School senior was crowned Miss Dawson County for 2010.

“It was really fun to compete in the pageant ... and to win the last year you could ever do it,” Broadwell said. “I was so surprised.”

Broadwell, who is also the reigning Miss Teen Georgia State Clogger and the reigning Miss Mountaineer Festival, said an inner search of herself as she filled out college and scholarship applications earlier this year gave her the confidence she needed to take the title.

“When I competed last year, I would have said the hardest part was interview, because you don’t know what they’re going to ask until you’re there,” said Broadwell, who was named first runner up in last year’s pageant. “I found the interview part the easiest because I know myself better than I did last year.”

Broadwell plans to attend Berry College in the fall to study journalism. She is currently an intern at Dawson Community News.

The pageant is an annual fundraiser for the Dawson County Band Boosters.