HERE She Is... Miss America Pageant Returning To Atlantic City, NJ
By Mike DeNardo
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- An area tradition is returning to its roots. Organizers say the Miss America Pageant is coming back to Atlantic City, NJ this fall.
Pageant officials and New Jersey lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno (center of photo) say a three-year deal will bring the Miss America Pageant, its parade, and all of its traditions back to the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Miss America 2014 will be crowned this September, although a specific date hasn't been finalized.
The pageant began in Atlantic City in 1920 and moved to Las Vegas in 2006.
Pageant CEO Art McMaster says the organization is glad to be back.
"It's exciting," he said today. "The sadness is over. We're back. We're back to the city where the Miss America pageant was born, where the Miss America Pageant was raised, and where the Miss America Pageant belongs."
It's estimated the pageant is worth $30 million to the regional economy. Guadagno adds that its value to attract visitors to the Jersey shore after Hurricane Sandy is "priceless."
