Former Miss America to serve as Azalea Queen; first queen, Olympic gold medalist among guests

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A woman crowned Miss America two years ago will get another crown next month in Wilmington, and she’ll get it from the very first woman to hold the title.

Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan will serve as Azalea Festival Queen, organizers announced this morning. Hagan will be crowned during the Queen’s Coronation Wednesday, April 8, along the downtown Wilmington riverfront. A broadcast of the event airs at 4 p.m. that day on WWAY NewsChannel 3.

Hagan will not be the only Azalea Festival Queen in attendance. Among the celebrities who will take part in the 68th North Carolina Azalea Festival is Jacqueline White Anderson, an actress who served as the very first Azalea Festival Queen in 1948.

Other celebrities include three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and her husband fellow beach volleyball star Casey Jennings; New York Times best-selling author and former fighter pilot Dan Hampton, who helped secure American airspace on Sept. 11, 2001, and flew the first plane over the border during the 2003 invasion of Iraq; Miss North Carolina Beth Stovall; Miss North Carolina USA Julia Dalton; and HGTV star Meg Caswell, who is opening a store in Wilmington.

Skai Jackson, who plays Zuri Ross on the Disney Channel show “Jessie” is this year’s Disney Star. The 12-year-old will take part in the Azalea Festival Parade on Saturday, April 11, and have a Street Fair meet and greet that afternoon.

The Azalea Festival runs April 8-12.