Pageant News Bureau - Miss Georgia USA 2006

A palace full of queens

Photos by Joe Whiteko / PNB

Miss Georgia USA 2006 (this page)

Miss Georgia Teen USA 2006 (page 2)

Lisa Wilson, Miss Georgia USA 2006

Georgia is a diverse state, and since the mid-1990s, the Miss Georgia USA and Miss Georgia Teen USA Pageant has been savoring the diversity. It left the hubbub of Atlanta for the more picturesque corners of the Peach State.

For a while it was held in Dalton, the carpet capital of the world. Then it moved to Rome, home to some of the most esteemed women in the history of the South. In the fall of 2005, the pageant came to Newnan.

Most people outside Georgia have never heard of Newnan. But pageant fans who came here for the first time must have felt like saying, "Where has this place been all my life?" The streets are lined with spectacular old homes and churches. And the contest venue -- the sparkling new Centre for Performing and Visual Arts of Coweta County -- is a palace worthy of any pageant in the world.

This small-town center is already internationally known. It has a relationship with one of France's most famous artists, Françoise Gilot. Just 10 days before the pageant, a group of journalists toured the facility. (Among them, coincidentally, was Pageant News Bureau founder Gerdeen Dyer.)

But we can't rave all night about the building. We were there for the queens, and they did not disappoint. The winner of Miss Georgia USA was Lisa Wilson. This raven-haired Rome resident was a PNB cover girl a few short years ago, and a Joe Whiteko photo of her also appeared in People magazine. Then she was an "American Idol" finalist for her singing. (Yes, she sings.)

Brittany Sharp was the winner of Miss Georgia Teen USA. At 14, she may be the youngest winner of the crown ever, a girl who was barely a toddler when PNB was founded. She has grown up marvelously.

History, architecture, beauty. These are three of our favorite things. Newnan offers all three. But beauty is our favorite.

For photos from
Miss Georgia Teen USA 2006, click here to go to page 2

The full lineup: Lisa Wilson was crowned Miss Georgia USA. The first runner-up was Lauren Stockton. The second runner-up was Kristen White, and the third runner-up was Brittany Swann. The fourth runner-up was Greer Howard.