Alana Price, Belle Casey crowned at inaugural Miss Oak Mountain pageant

Published 6:47 pm Monday, July 15, 2024

By Alec Etheredge

By LEAH INGRAM EAGLE | Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – Gina Vines has been involved in the pageant world for years, but recently decided to step out and launch a new pageant and serve as the director.

Vines was involved in the Miss Alabama organization when she was younger, and said it afforded her the opportunity to go to college and pay her tuition. She later had a daughter who was involved in pageants and once Vines became involved again, she knew she wanted to be back in the Miss Alabama system.

“It brought all those feelings back,” Vines said. “I had been with the Miss Historic Springville pageant for about 17 years as an assistant director, and for last year had wanted to step out on my own. I began thinking of an area to plug into and plant ourselves and make a difference for the community and these girls.”

She decided on Oak Mountain, and the school also had the perfect spot for the venue at the Performing Arts Center.

Vines’ dream became a reality on July 14 as the inaugural Miss Oak Mountain pageant was held at the Oak Mountain High School Performing Arts Center with a theme of “Uptown Girl.”

The Miss Oak Mountain organization serves a scholarship preliminary to the Miss Alabama and Miss America competitions and the Miss Alabama’s Teen and Miss America’s Teen competitions.

Vines worked alongside assistant director Diane Logan and Vines’ daughter Aubrey Ferguson to bring the event together.

“I found my committee through friends and people I’ve come in contact with who had expressed interest if anyone needed help being dressing room moms or judges,” Vines said. “My daughter was the producer and she took it to another level doing everything backstage during the event and she also ran all the practices. She took it and made it hers. It was very successful and I owe a lot of that to her.”

To spread the word, Vines created a website and a Facebook page which were tied to Miss Alabama so anyone wanting to sign up to compete could get the information there.

The teen competition (ages 14-17) featured five contestants and the miss competition (ages 18-27) featured ten contestants. The girls were from mostly local high schools and colleges, including the University of Alabama, UAB, Oak Mountain High School, Pelham High School, Sylacauga High School and more.

Alana Price, 19, was named 2025 Miss Oak Mountain and Belle Casey was named 2025 Miss Oak Mountain Teen.

Price is entering her sophomore year at Samford University and is on the pre-med track and hopes to pursue a career in cardiothoracic surgery. She said this is her third year in the Miss Alabama Organization and she said while she began competing for the scholarship money, she has enjoyed making so many new friends. She has held two other titles already, as Miss Sylacauga 2023 and Miss Gardendale Magnolia Festival 2024.

“I’m excited to serve the Oak Mountain area and in the days since winning, I can see the immense support coming from the community.”

Price’s community platform is Hometown Helpings, which focuses on food insecurity feeding children so they don’t have to worry where their next meal is coming from.

“I have been working with food banks for four and a half years,” Price said. “I didn’t realize we had one in my hometown (Sylacauga) until she began to volunteer. She hopes to raise awareness not only of the one where she volunteers, but in other communities as well.

Price looks forward to competing in Miss Alabama next year, but during her time as Miss Oak Mountain, she will be making appearances at events, reading to students in schools and continuing to work with food banks and hold distribution drives.

For those considering taking part in pageant competitions, her advice is to sign up and go for it.

“Take a leap of faith and put yourself out there,” Price said. “There are lots of things to gain from these experiences. Even if you don’t win, you walk away with growth and gain confidence skills.”

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