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The New Era
The 2000s
In 2000, for the first time ever, a scholarship of $50,000 was the top prize and
Utah Junior Miss Jesika Henderson earned it along with the title of America's
Junior Miss that year. Both Deborah Norville and Karen Morris Gowdy took part in
the 2001 finals, with Norville hosting the finals and Gowdy handling the
preliminary round. Singer Toby Keith provided entertainment for the finals. Dan
Marino joined Norville for the finals in 2002, which aired nationally on the PAX
TV network. Billy Gilman and 3rd Faze were also part of the 2002 finals. The
2004 finals were a little different from previous years, as the 50 Junior Misses
were taped for documentary segments spanning their two weeks of preparation.
In 2005, the AJM Board of Directors' executive committee was unsuccessful at
retaining sponsors and a major television network willing enough to broadcast
the national finals. The Board of Directors had no choice but to make the 2005
national finals on June 25 possibly the very last for America's Junior Miss.
Mississippi Junior Miss Kelli Lynn Schutz was chosen and given a $50,000
scholarship, but she was not originally scheduled for any of the traditional AJM
appearances. The 2005 finals, hosted by 2000 America's Junior Miss Jesika
Henderson and actor Nicky Brown, airing live on Mobile station WKRG-TV and
pre-recorded for PAX TV on June 27 was a celebration of all 48 years of
accomplishing a feat that no other organization similar to AJM would attempt:
prepare and encourage the lives of young women beginning to enter a new world of
possibility.
The organization had originally set a date of September 30, 2005 to end
operations, but on August 9 the Board of Directors decided that the national
finals shall continue to be held in Mobile, only without any national television
coverage as part of the new budget. In July, Chattanooga, Tennessee showed
interest in saving the America's Junior Miss program by moving the headquarters
and national finals there. A group of concerned Junior Miss supporters, under
the band of Friends of AJM and with the website saveajm.org, fought for the
continuation of the program.
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