Candace Babb was crowned Miss Greene County 2010 Saturday night at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

As the winner of the annual contest, she will represent this county next summer in the Miss Tennessee Pageant, the state affiliate of the Miss America scholarship pageant.

Babb's selection as Miss Greene County marks the third time in three years that a local woman has been selected to represent the county at the state level.

Brooke Waddell, the reigning Miss Greene County, who was second runner-up at the Miss Tennessee pageant in June, crowned Babb.

First runner-up was Lacey Alford of Seymour, who also won the Jack H. Burkhard Memorial Scholarship, and second runner-up was Brittany Kyte of Piney Flats.

The only other local woman competing, Summer Shuffler, was selected for the Miss Congeniality award by her fellow contestants.

Nine contestants were introduced in Friday's edition of The Greeneville Sun, but only seven competed. Two had to drop out at the last minute because of illness and problems with travel plans, it was announced.

During the show, all seven women participated in the on-stage interviewing, which was conducted by Waddell. The questions for the contestants were selected from their platforms.

All seven were also on stage when the top three were announced.

After the pageant, Babb said she was very excited to have been selected as Miss Greene County.

She added that she was also surprised, especially when the winner of the Burkhard scholarship was announced, since that scholarship goes to the winner of the judges' interview and the interview portion of the pageant often determines the winner because it counts for such a large portion of the score.

However, Christa DelSorbo, a member of the committee that produces the Miss Greene County Scholarship Pageant, told this writer during intermission that, as a member of the committee, she had dinner with the judges, who were very eager to see the talent presentations.

She had heard at dinner, she said, that the interview segment of the pageant had been so close that the talent competition would decide the winner.

Mistress of ceremonies Debbie Coleman of Columbia had said just prior to intermission that the judges had been "blown away" by the quality of the interviews and that the contest was very close.

The top three contestants all sang in the talent competition.

Babb sang "I Told You So," which was a winner for country singers Randy Travis and Carrie Underwood when each of them recorded the song.

Saturday's crown will take Babb to the state pageant for the third time. She competed as Miss Knoxville this past June and as Miss Bristol in 2008.

Alford chose "Via Dolorosa" or "The Way of Suffering" that tells the story in Latin of Christ's walk toward Calvary.

Alford competed at the Miss Tennessee pageant as Miss Historic Jonesborough in June and was a non-finalist winner based upon her overall score.

Kyte sang "Don't Rain on My Parade" in what was this writer's pick for the talent winner.

Earlier Saturday, each contestant had had a 10-minute interview with the five judges. From the scores, a winner of the Jack H. Burkhard scholarship winner was selected.

Terri Lamons, executive director of the Miss Greene County Pageant, was very complimentary of all the women who had participated, but noted, "There's nothing like having a hometown girl" to represent Greene County.

Lamons said, "All the girls were fabulous. Talent was great. The interview was very, very close. We had an awesome show. We had a good bunch of good girls, but we had a hometown winner, and I love it."

The contestants weren't the only talented persons on the stage. Jerry Scott, a Greene County Sheriff's deputy, sang the national anthem. During the show, he also sang "My Girl" and "Me and Mrs. Jones."

Waddell, as the reigning Miss Greene County, shared the emcee duties with Coleman and sang two numbers.

Coleman discussed the importance of the Miss America program as a big source of scholarship funds for young women.

"It's more than that sparkly hat," Coleman said.

Coleman discussed how winning a local pageant can "change a young woman's life."

Another way Miss America is about more than the "sparkly hat" is that the program serves as a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network.

In the local pageants, in order to be accepted to compete, each contestant must raise $100 for the Children's Miracle Network. For the last two years, Landair Transport Inc. has been the sponsor and donated the money for the all the contestants.

In the Miss Greene County pageant, American Patriot Bank has furnished the scholarships for the top three winners for the last three years. Babb won a $1,000 scholarship, Alford won a $300 scholarship, and Kyte won $200.

The Jack H. Burkhard scholarship is donated by the late attorney's colleagues and friends. The amount varies each year and is not disclosed.

Ed Kershaw, a local attorney, made the presentation to Alford.

Kershaw remembered Burkhard fondly and humorously as he discussed his association with Burkhard when he himself was a young attorney learning the business.

Waddell, when interviewed following the pageant, disclosed that, in all, she has won about $18,000 in scholarships in the Miss America Scholarship Program. "It's paid for everything," Waddell said.

Waddell had a farewell message to Greene County. "I want to thank Greene County. It's been wonderful . . . Greene County has affected me much more than I can ever give or affect them. I'm appreciative of the blessings I've received and the people that have been so supportive and wonderful to me."

After the pageant, Babb discussed the evening and her surprise at winning. She said she had really wanted to win the Burkhard award and had "worked so hard for it, but I guess everything worked out in the end."

"I can't wait to meet everybody and thank everyone," she said.

Immediately after the pageant, though, she was off to Applebee's to celebrate.

Her mother, Teresa Babb, said following the pageant, "Hopefully, the third time's the charm."