Pahrump pageant introduces five contestants vying for 2026 crown

Five women will step onto Pahrump’s next Ms. Senior Golden Years stage with more than a crown at stake: Gina Emond, Tina Seavey, Maria Sanders, Nancy Simonsen and Denise Gohlson are set to compete as Mary McRory prepares to pass along the title next month.

The pageant has become one of the valley’s more visible gatherings for older residents, offering women 60 and older a public role built around poise, elegance, talent and community presence. Residents will also have a chance to meet the contestants at an upcoming meet-and-greet before the pageant, giving the field a local, personal feel that has helped the event keep its place on Pahrump’s social calendar.

McRory’s handoff continues a tradition that has already traveled through recent public scrutiny and strong local turnout. Carolyn Buckley won the 2025 crown at Saddle West Showroom, where the audience packed the room wall-to-wall, but later became too ill to continue representing the organization. McRory, then first runner-up, stepped into the queen’s role and is now preparing to crown the next winner.

What makes the pageant unusual in Nye County is not just the age requirement but the way it treats participation as a form of service and sisterhood. Teri Rogers has said the organization focuses on sisterhood, giving back and inner beauty, and that contestants spend weekly practices getting ready for the show. She also said participation does not have to be expensive, because gowns can sometimes be donated or sold at low cost.

That accessibility has helped keep the pageant rooted in the community rather than drifting into an exclusive showcase. Ms. Senior Golden Years USA has long used a Victorian Tea to recruit prospective contestants, and the event has grown around more than evening wear. In past years, the program has included Nevada Silver Tappers performances and even a bathing-suit competition that used styles from contestants’ mothers’ or grandmothers’ eras.

The tradition traces back more than two decades to Pahrump resident B.J. Hetrick-Irwin, who turned 100 on June 19, 2025 and was still involved with both Ms. Senior Golden Years USA and the Nevada Silver Tappers. Her continued role, along with the pageant’s packed crowds and steady recruitment of new women, has kept the event tied to local volunteer life and public performance in a county better known for youth sports, politics and development fights.

As the 2026 contestants prepare for the stage, the pageant remains a rare local event that places older women at the center of community attention, not at its margins.