HURON Jamee Kattner, a 20-year old rising senior at South Dakota State University from Huron, is among 20 young women vying for the title of Miss South Dakota. Competition for the 2024 title begins May 30 in Brookings, with the new Miss South Dakota being crowned Saturday night.
Tickets to all three nights of Miss South Dakota are available and a livestream of Saturday nights final is available for purchase as well. Links to tickets and livestream can be found online at www.misssd.org.
I am looking forward to the new experience and sharing with the other girls that I have met, Kattner said over coffee earlier this week. There are a lot of new faces this year and we have all bonded. In a way, I am excited really that I dont know what to expect!
Miss South Dakota is connected to the Miss America organization. The state competition goes back to 1947 and is first and foremost a scholarship foundation, with more than 75 years worth of young women earning scholarship money.
A total of $56,000 was awarded at last years competition.
Kattner is seeking to join three other Huron contestants who have received the title in the past 20 years, including Callee (Bauman) Wachter in 2006, Loren (Vaillancourt) Carver in 2010 and Carrie (Wintle) Granger in 2018.
She recently completed her junior year at SDSU and earned the title Miss Prairie Pasque in February. She is the daughter of Kristi and Linc Kattner of Huron, and a 2021 graduate of Huron High School.
Competing before the competition
Steps toward securing a coveted top-10 semifinal spot Saturday night are already underway, with a twist.
Supporters may go online to the Miss South Dakota Facebook page and register to cast a vote for their favorite candidate. For a $1 donation to the scholarship fund, a vote is cast for that candidate as the Peoples Choice. On Saturday evening, the top vote-getter is the semifinals, but nobody knows who the top finisher is.
Nope, whomever gets the most votes is a semifinalist, but is just announced as such, Kattner said. Nobody except the executive director knows who that is, which is a good thing.
Kattner said that money raised through the online voting goes directly to the scholarships that are awarded to the candidates.
Entering the Brookings competition in February was done on somewhat a whim for Kattner. My teacher at SDSU, Dr. Laura Diddle, who I later learned had encouraged several past competitors, thought that it might be a positive for me. She really encouraged me to give it a try.
From an early age Kattner said she and her sisters had been encouraged to sing in public, so she feels comfortable on stage.
I still get nervous, she grins, but that goes away when I begin singing.
Not surprisingly, she will sing for the talent portion of the competition, channeling her inner Barbra Streisand into Dont Rain on My Parade, from the musical Funny Girl. It is a change from her local competition, where her musical selection was an aria from the Strauss opera Der Fledermaus.
It went well, she said, but I dont think it really connected with the judges. That is part of the competition though trial and error learning and changing if needed.
Her musical abilities have led to her Community Service Initiative as well.
My Community Service Initiative is Spreading Joy through Music, she said. Two things that affect people of all ages are Isolation and Depression. College students feel isolated being away from their families. And people in assisted living or nursing homes can be isolated if their family is not nearby or has passed on. And both can lead to depression as well.
Kattner said that she has created musical programs dependent upon the audience and venue that helps her connect through her talent of music.
A fellow student plays piano for me, she said. Most of the time in a nursing home they like to hear hymns and such, then afterward we sit and talk with them. She said one of the greatest gifts she has received is when a nursing home director messaged her and said that the mood had been so much brighter for the days following her time at the facility.
I am happy that it gives me an opportunity to share my gift, in a way that reaches people and doesnt cost much except some time to accomplish.
As she approaches next weeks completion, she is looking forward to getting back together with the other candidates and just seeing what happens.
Its all new for me, she said. So I am coming at it with a fresh, new approach. I think that not having expectations is a great energy to have. Its new and I get to experience it!
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