MARK WAITE / PVT Contestants in the Ms. Senior Golden Years pageant include, from left, Kem Farester, Elaine Gilfillan, Lynnette Schlager, Linda Turner, Marcella Shank and Pat Smith. Not pictured is Shirley Marrs. The contestants posed at the Pahrump Valley Winery. Advertisement

Seven local women will compete for the title of Ms. Senior Golden Years during the fifth annual pageant at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Saddle West Hotel and Casino.

The pageant honors women 60 years and older who extol the grace and beauty of senior women. Pageant founder B.J. Hetrick-Irwin said the winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize or the ability to attend the Sweetheart of America Pageant in Massachusetts. Ms. Senior Golden Years also appears at various events throughout the year.

The three judges include the mayor of Mesquite, a weatherman from Channel 5 in Las Vegas and a woman from Louisville, Ky. Women will be judged in a talent show, bathing suits, their interviews, formal wear and their platform, just like most beauty contestants featuring younger women.

This year's contestants include:

Kem Farester, a Pahrump resident for over 20 years. She just retired from being a load master, loading cargo planes all over the world. In fact, she was in Kuwait when the Iraqi War broke out. She is a painter and took first place in the Fall Festival last year. She will be performing a mime of the musical "Annie Get Your Gun."

Linda Turner is a retired Boeing employee. She has lived in Pahrump for 14 months. Linda will be performing a lip sync of Betty Boop.

Lynnette Schlager has an extensive resume of outdoor activities. She was a ranger at Camp Land on the Bay, a private park near San Diego, used to be a race car driver and still has a Porsche. Lynette was a crew chief for her brother when he drove FCCA formula races. She is also a certified scuba diver and an instructor who used to show horses for the California Professional Horseman's Association.

Lynette taught snow skiing at Snow Valley in the San Bernardino Mountains and had her own music production company. She will perform jazz, tap and twirl the baton to the song "All That Jazz."

Elaine Gilfillan has been a registered nurse for over 40 years. She now works as a visiting nurse. She's been a Pahrump resident for over 13 years. Elaine taught nursing at the Community College of Southern Nevada and the Evergreen at Pahrump Skilled Nursing Center on North Blagg Road.

Elaine volunteers for the Red Cross, does a lot of in-service for her company and is a speaker at Pahrump Valley United Methodist Church. Her routine will be a humorous skit on what to do when you find someone unconscious and choking.

Marcella Shank has been a Pahrump resident for 18 years. She sells Avon cosmetics and a product called Isagenix, a body cleanser. Marcella belongs to the Red Hats on the Go chapter, the Moose Lodge and the American Legion. Back in Illinois, Marcella had her own silk flower and craft shop.

When her husband was alive the Shanks were campground hosts in Colorado and California. Marcella plans to sing "Walking After Midnight," by country singer Patsy Cline during her talent competition.

Pat Smith has lived coast to coast, but retired to Las Vegas in 1987. She moved to Pahrump in 1997. A retired nurse, Pat has volunteered at the Nathan Adelson Hospice and at Pahrump Community Church. Together with her husband, she rides a motorcycle, a red trike, this summer the Smiths plan to travel to Newfoundland, Canada. Pat plans to show her porcelain dolls in the talent competition.

Another contestant, Shirley Marrs, left town for a family emergency and wasn't available for interviews or photographs.