DECATUR, Ill. – Fans, friends, and family of Miss Illinois Breana Bagley headed to Millikin University on Saturday, December 14 for a Miss America Send-Off Party in the Bob and Debi Johnston Banquet Rooms in the University Commons.
Bagley is a Decatur native and graduated from Millikin in 2019 with a B.A. in Communications. She went on to attend the Southern Illinois University School of Law and is an attorney with Sandberg Phoenix Law Firm.
The event had a full program, including musical performances, a preview of the designs that Bagley will wear during her Miss America experience, speakers sharing their personal connection with Bagley, and a chance for attendees to write letters of support for Bagley that she will read during the competition.
Ashley Hatfield, Miss Illinois 2007, spoke on her close relationship with Bagley and her confidence that she can win Miss America. Many Illinois pageant titleholders were also on hand, including several with ties to Central Illinois, such as Miss Land of Lincoln Madalaina Hlava and Mss Capital City Ashlynn Drach.
Bagley was crowned Miss Illinois 2024 last June, competing as Miss Land of Lincoln against 28 other candidates. She has spent the time since winning traveling throughout Illinois, attending special events, and promoting her social community initiative.
The Miss America competition will be held in Orlando, Fla., in the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts from Dec. 31-January 5, 2025. After several days of competition, Miss America 2025 will be crowned on Sunday, Jan. 5.
The events begin with an Arrival Ceremony on Monday, Dec. 30, and include a Miss America’s Got Talent Showcase on Thursday, Jan. 2, Miss America’s Teen Finals on Saturday, Jan. 4, the Miss America Finals on Jan. 5, followed by a Miss America Coronation Party.
The Miss America events can be streamed at https://missamerica.org/.
Bagley looks to become the sixth Miss Illinois to be crowned Miss America and the first since 2003. Past previous winners include Joliet’s Lois Delander (1927), Belvidere’s Judith Ford (1969), Oak Park’s Marjorie Vincent (1991), Evanston’s Katherine Shindle (1998), and Urbana’s Erika Harold (2003)
