Beauty pageant kicks off Henderson Heritage Days

Valerie Miller

Thursday, April 16, 1998 | 10:08 a.m.

HENDERSON -- The 48th annual Heritage Days celebration begins Friday with the "Miss Heritage Days Beauty Pageant."

The pageant will be held at 7 p.m. at Lyal Burkolder Middle School at 355 Van Wagenen St. Twenty-one contestants between ages 15 and 18 will compete for the title.

The "Mayor's Street Dance" will also take place Friday night from 8 till midnight between the Eldorado Club and Rainbow Club casinos on downtown's Water Street. Last year's dance attracted 2,500 people.

The Heritage Days festival will run through April 26. The theme this year is ""Creating the Future."

The parade -- with entertainer David Cassidy as the grand marshal -- begins at noon April 25 at Water Street and Ocean Avenue in Downtown and will proceed down Water Street to Victory Road. Last year, 30,000 people watched this highlight event.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the first "Heritage Days Parade," which until a few years ago was known as the "Industrial Days Parade."

"From a small parade we have really grown to celebrate our heritage with this wonderful event," said David Rogers, chairman of the parade committee.

Rogers said he interviewed a number of longtime Henderson residents a few years ago to learn more about the origins of the city as well as the celebration of its heritage.

"I talked to a lot of the old-timers, including Chet Sewell (who the C.T. Sewell Elementary School in Henderson is named after)," he said.

"The whole reason that the town of Henderson was built was for the magnesium from the plants to be used during World war II. When the war was over, though, the residents said, 'We love our town,' and they wouldn't let it die."

The city of Henderson was named after the late Sen. Charles B. Henderson, who was instrumental in helping the city survive after the end of World war II.

When looking at this year's celebration in comparision to years past, Rogers sees this as being different because it represents a pulling together of the entire community.

"We are bringing Green Valley and Henderson proper together this year," he explained. "We have representatives from all our high schools in the beauty pageant, and bands from all our schools in the parade."

A complete schedule of events may be obtained by calling the Henderson Chamber of Commerce at 565-8951.

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