Wynne welcomes Miss Arkansas back home

Wynne, Arkansas – After competing and touring the state, Camille Cathey won Miss Arkansas 2024 almost a month ago. She then went back to her hometown.

The entire town turned out for Camille; cheerleaders greeted her as she entered, and a police escort escorted her car. According to Camille, it was an odd moment.

“It’s so surreal and so special, it means the world to me, I have an amazing community backing, who’s been so much for me since the moment the crown went on the head,” Cathey said.

Jennifer Hobbs, the mayor of Wynne, was also present and gave Camille a key to the city.

“It’s just such an exciting opportunity to have Camille be our hometown girl who goes all the way and wins Miss Arkansas. Camille is a great mentor to the younger children in our community she has a lot of grace, and we are just excited to support her,” Hobbs said.

A video of the community’s reactions to her receiving the crown was shown by the homecoming committee. She also appeared on stage with Diana Davis of KAIT and Cori Keller, the 2023 Miss Arkansas winner.

“I look at the audience I kinda just wanna cry because they are people who celebrated me long before a crown and sash went around my head, and it’s so crazy to be back and to see the faces who have made me into the Camille Cathey that I am today,” Cathey said.

“Well I’ve known Camille for many years since I was in Arkansas Diamond with Camille, we were children. I competed in the teen system with Camille, and then she was my first runner-up when I won back in 2023. And I’m so incredibly proud of her, the woman that she’s become through the years. It’s so great to be here in Wynne to celebrate her,” Keller said.

As they watched the entire town come together in support of Camille, her family was also present in the crowd. Her father, Jake Cathey, sister, Cate Cathey, and mother, Crystal Cathey, expressed their excitement for her return and for Wynne to honor her.

“She’s been gone a lot so whenever she comes home it’s more that we cherish it more than we usually do when’s she’s home all the time with us, but I know she’s out doing what she loves and doing the best that she can to represent our state,” They said, “Today is probably the first day that I feel like that she’s really Miss Arkansas, just her being home in her hometown where she was raised. And just everyone loving on her. It was just oh wow.”

Camille aspires to motivate young ladies and girls in her neighborhood and throughout the state. that living in a small town doesn’t have to stop you from achieving your goals.

“Well I hope it shows them that there’s no dream too big, and there’s nothing you can’t achieve if you set your heart and mind to it. I hope that’s the message that I’m sending to little girls all across state of Arkansas to dream big and work hard,” Cathey said.

Following Sunday, July 14, Camille will start the next chapter of her Miss Arkansas 2024 career. She will spend the entire year traveling across the state. In January 2025, she plans to compete in the Miss America pageant.