It’s always special to have a representative of your hometown competing in the Miss America Pageant, but to have two contestants from the same town competing for the title in the same year is virtually unheard of. On Jan. 24, Garner residents will be rooting for both Kendria Perry and Amanda Watson in the Miss America Pageant airing at 8 p.m. on TLC.

Perry was Miss Garner for 2007 and crowned Watson, her successor, a year later. Watson is the reigning Miss North Carolina, while Perry represents Pennsylvania after moving there to attend graduate school.

As Miss Garners, Perry and Watson are part of the oldest continuing pageant program in the state, according to Miss Garner Scholarship Pageant Executive Director Harold Garner. The pageant celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008.

“I’ve spoken to pageant officials from all over the state and all over the country,” said Garner. “As far as I know this is the first time that two contestants from the same preliminary pageant, which is what Miss Garner is, will be competing for Miss America at the same time. That is truly unique.”

Perry studied piano at the N.C. School of the Arts and is now attending Carnegie Mellon University. Her ambition is to obtain a master’s degree in arts management and become director of development for an arts organization. Her platform issue is “Art Works!,” an arts-in-education initiative focused on 21st Century workplace readiness.

Watson is a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill studying music. Her talent is opera singing and she plans to earn a doctorate of musical arts degree and become a vocal music professor. Having lost her grandfather and great-grandfather to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Watson serves as a national spokesperson for the ALS Association.

Garner residents are extremely proud of both young ladies, and supporters even traveled to Pennsylvania earlier this year to cheer Perry on to victory. About 90 North Carolinians will also be on hand in Las Vegas to root for Perry and Watson at the Miss America Pageant. “Once a Garner girl, always a Garner girl,” said Garner. “We’ll cheer for everybody.”

“This is certainly a special time for the Town of Garner,” said Mayor Ronnie Williams. “Earlier this year, Butterball opened up their brand new corporate headquarters in Garner, and more and more businesses are taking note of our location and amenities. Garner is definitely getting national attention.”