D.J. Jones (Crossley) and Kim Kircher have known each other since they were 14 years old. They went to high school together, sang in the choir and formed a lasting bond.

But on the Miss Missouri stage, they were competitors.

Jones was first runner up in 1991 and Kircher was fourth runner up in 1990. The two vocalists returned to the stage after 35 years to sing the National Anthem and close out the night with a show-stopping duet.

“I started singing in Italian at the age of 5,” Jones said. “I’ve sung pretty much my whole life. I grew up in the opera house.”

Jones worked with Kircher at Tiffany’s Attic, an old dinner theater in Kansas City, as a struggling college student while attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

She knew how to sing, but knew nothing about pageantry and it was Kircher who pushed Jones to join her in the pageant world.

“Basically, that’s what put me through college – the pageant system,” said Jones, who went on to graduate from Avila University where she studied vocal performance with a minor in anthropology.

Kircher herself had only just discovered pageantry after meeting Miss Missouri musical director Bill Wolfe at Tiffany’s Attic.

Wolfe is a vocal coach renowned nationwide; he personally mentored Kircher when she competed. When she was finished, Kircher continued to work alongside him, guiding Wolfe’s students through facial expressions and blocking (the movement on stage.)

“Pagents are not for everybody,” Kircher said. “I liked the performance piece so much, rather than the competition part and sometimes that’s what you find. You find what you’re really good at and that’s what’s really cool about the pageant.”

Kircher said she sings as a second career because she loves making people happy.

“I am a doctorate nurse practitioner in internal medicine, so it’s not always the most pleasant of jobs,” Kircher said. "Singing balances me – it’s my yin and yang.”

Kircher attended college later in life after spending a few years singing in rock ‘n’ roll bands and performing all over the city. She graduated from Rockhurst University in 2014.

In the past, Kircher has produced pageants including Miss Mississippi Volunteer - for two years in a row - and Miss Minnesota, Miss Missouri and Miss Nebraska.

What made Thursday night so special, Kircher said, was the audience.

Hidden amongst the crowd at Thursday night’s show were former Miss Missouri competitors from Jones and Kircher’s pageant days. They left their crowns at home, coming not for recognition, but to support the program and the women they came to have come to know so well.

“All these girls that I competed with or taught are all out there,” Kircer said. “All that stuff lasts forever – it's like you were never apart so the memories that I have here are unbelievable.”

These special guests witnessed the final round of preliminary awards given to the following delegates:

Teen Sash Rookie Evening Gown: Jaycee McMillian - Miss Northwest’s Teen
Teen Sash Overall Evening Gown: Celia Medeiros - Miss Columbia’s Teen
Miss Sigma Overall Evening Gown: Brooklyn Atterberry - Miss Heart of Southern Missouri
Teen Crown Overall Talent: Greta Clark - Miss Branson’s Teen
Teen Crown Rookie Talent: Aubrey Gorman - Miss Texas County’s Teen
Miss Alpha Rookie Talent: Randall Chambers - Miss Boone County
Miss Alpha Overall Talent: Grayson Barnes - Miss Columbia

After Thursday's show, Miss Missouri’s Teen delegates enjoyed a taco party at The Oaks.

“They’ve done what they can do to get themselves in the top 11, and it’s just waiting for them,” pageant director Alice Leonatti said.

Friday Night’s show will begin at 7 p.m. with teen finals where the top 11 compete once more in all phases of competition. At the end, Miss Missouri’s Teen will crown a new winner.

For more photos, see The Mexico Ledger’s online photo galleries.