Amarillo pageant community celebrates local ties, Patti Stapp scholarship amid Miss Texas competition

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – The Amarillo area pageant community celebrated this week during the first preliminary night of the Miss Texas competition, which acts as a preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, and marked the local connections to the evening’s winners.

According to Shellie Stapp, a committee member of the Miss Amarillo Area Pageant, noted that two winners from Tuesday night have Amarillo connections. Miss Plano, Sadie Schiermeyer, is the daughter of Arian Archer Orlando – a previous Miss Amarillo Area as well as a previous Miss Texas, and a top 10 finalist at Miss America – and won both the “All Over Talent” and “Rookie Talent” portions of the evening.

Stapp further noted that Miss Texarkana, Madison Matlock, won the “Evening Gown” portion of the evening and was noted as the niece of another former Miss Amarillo Area and Miss Texas, Morgan Matlock, who was also a top 10 Miss America finalist. The evening gown that helped bring her the win, said Stapp, was a Miss Amarillo Area dress.

“Wow, what a night, so very happy for these two phenomenal women!” posted Stapp in a social media update, “Love and hug!”

In the history of the Miss Amarillo Area Pageant, said Stapp, two winners have gone on to win Miss Texas and place in the top 10 at Miss America.

Further, Stapp noted that a $1,500 Patti Stapp Visionary Scholarship was recently raised by another former Miss Amarillo Area and given at the Miss Texas Visionary Brunch on Sunday. As detailed by Miss Texas officials, the organization awarded more than $70,000 in scholarships during the brunch, and Stapp noted that the $1,500 scholarship was the largest awarded that day.

As previously reported on MyHighPlains.com, the Patti Stapp Visionary Scholarship was created by the Miss Texas Volunteer Pageant to honor the memory of longtime friend of KAMR Local 4 News and Fox 14 News Patti Stapp, who died after a battle with cancer in July 2023. Patti Stapp, mother of Shellie Stapp, was the executive director of the Miss Amarillo Area Pageant for 15 years and had a long and accomplished career as a makeup artist and business owner.

For more information on the Miss Texas pageant click here, you can watch that pageant on Saturday, June 29 at 8 p.m. CT on KCPN.