THOMASVILLE — Only two days after being crown Miss Thomasville 2003, Katie Lumpkin has bigger plans for her platform then ever before.

Prior to the competition, Lumpkin was promoting her platform –Underage Drinking is not just an Underage Problem.

“I approached the mayor (Rick Singletary) with an ‘adopt a keg’ registration law in Thomasville in March and it was passed in April,” said Lumpkin, whose brother was killed in an accident involving underage drinking. “My goal now is to obtain funding for compliance checks. They do them now in gas stations and in retail, but there’s not enough money to do them in restaurants. I personally witnessed a restaurant serve alcohol to a minor before.”

The keg registration requires anyone selling a keg to obtain important information on the buyer, including driver’s license numbers and a signed statement saying they will not provide alcohol to underage minors.

“If a keg is confiscated, this makes it easier to track the buyer and it puts the complete liability on the purchaser, not the seller,” Miss Thomasville said. “In places it has already been implemented, it has proven to be 100 percent effective.”

Lumpkin, the 19-year-old daughter of Jim and Marie Lumpkin, was crowned Miss Thomasville during the 51st Annual Miss Thomasville Pageant Saturday. Along with winning the top honors, the 2002 Thomasville High School graduate and Birmingham-Southern College student won the evening wear competition as well.

“It is so exciting. I was really surprised when they called my name,” said Lumpkin, who previously was selected to be the first representative from Thomasville to the Miss Teen Georgia pageant. “The gown came from The New Image. Actually I had never seen the gown and they ordered it thinking it would be good for me. It came in, I tried it on and it was perfect. I knew it was the one.”

Dancing since she was 3-years-old, Lumpkin performed a ballet en pointe for her talent and she is hoping to become a professional dancer.

Also during the annual event, 14-year-old Hannah Barfield was named Miss Teen Thomasville 2003.

“I was very shocked, actually,” said the youngest daughter of the late Charles D. Barfield and Martha Dickinson Barfield. “I was saying to myself, ‘They didn’t just say my name.’ I couldn’t believe it. Ever since I was a child I have wanted to be Miss Thomasville.”

The rising Thomas County Central High School freshman spent numerous hours preparing for the competition.

“We had practices every night and I’ve really been preparing for a long time now,” she said. “Actually, the hardest part was finding a dress for a person my height.”

Her favorite part, yet the most unnerving, was the onstage question.

“The scariest part of it was the onstage question. They had told me during the mock interview that I was too confident for a 14-year-old,” Barfield said. “I don’t think you can be too confident. There’s no such thing.”

Now that she has more resources, Miss Teen Thomasville plans to increase her role in the community.

“I want to do a lot of speaking out, attend parades and other pageants,” said Barfield, who sang and danced to “Razzle Dazzle” from Chicago. “I want to do more community service and get out in the community and make a difference. With the crown, I now have more resources.”

Along with being an active part of the community, Barfield is hoping to be an inspiration to her peers.

“I hope being Miss Teen Thomasville that I’ll set a good role model for the younger people and be someone they can look up to,” she said.

Lumpkin is also hoping to bring honor and recognition to City of Roses.

“I think that Whitney Cleveland was an excellent representative from Thomasville,” Lumpkin concluded. “I hope I can be as great a representative as she was.”

For Miss Thomasville, Lindsey Holton was named first runner-up, Kristine Wager took second runner-up and Jenna Miller was named third runner-up.

Preliminary Awards were presented to Katherine Williams, who earned the title of People’s Choice, and Holton, who won the lifestyle and fitness category. For her vocal performance of “I’m a Woman,” Wager took home the top honors for talent.

In the Miss Teen Thomasville division, Katie Trotter, who earned the talent award for her violin performance and also won the evening wear portion, was named first runner-up. Dia Lane, who performed a jazz dance to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was named second runner-up.