Millions To Watch Haley Joy Tate At Miss America Pageant

Miss Montana Haley Joy Tate Competes for Miss America Crown

I can't imagine the excitement that must be running through Haley Joy Tate right now.

She's the current Miss Montana, and she's hoping to be the first from the Treasure State to bring home the Miss America crown.

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Miss America’s Changing Popularity

While the Miss America pageant has seen its popularity in the cultural zeitgeist decline here in the new millennium, it still pulls in millions of viewers.

Those viewers will get a chance to see Haley Joy Tate from Missoula once the competition finals start on September 7th.

Haley is currently in Orlando, along with the rest of her competition, where they will begin preliminaries on September 3rd.

Haley Joy Tate’s Inspiration For The Next Generation

I've always been fascinated by the Miss America pageant and would watch it every year as a young boy.

I think the reason why was I grew up next door and was babysat by Miss South Dakota, who I thought was a princess at 4 years old.

Haley Joy was also fascinated by the pageant as a young girl and hopes she can spark the same passion in younger viewers today, telling NBC Montana the following:

"One of my favorite parts is getting to be around kids who are like, you look the crown," Tate said. "Because you want to be someone where kids envision themselves as a future Miss Montana, as a future Miss America. And you want to be able to empower that leadership that every one of us has within us. And it's also that incredible moment when you're around a lady in a nursing home and she looks back and she remembers what it was like back in her 20s. And that's just that really sweet moment. Being able to connect with people across all ages is so amazing."

From all of us back home in Montana, good luck, Haley!