ShawneeDispatch.com

Pageants are a family affair for the Marx family.

Sisters Katie Marx, 15, Maggie Marx, 11, and Allie Marx, 9, of Shawnee, all recently won awards in pageants.

In July, the girls competed in the Kansas Miss America Coed Pageant at the Overland Park Marriot Hotel, where Maggie won the queen title in the pre-teen division and Allie won the queen title in the sweetheart division. In the optional contests, Maggie won talent and pageant wear and Katie won the Miss Victory title.

The girls' mother, Nanette Marx, said her daughters' interest in pageants started with her oldest, Katie.

"I never did pageants myself," she said. "My oldest daughter, where she danced at, her friend there kind of had been saying you need to do this, you need to do this, it's so much fun. After two years of asking me, I said OK."

Katie, who attends St. Thomas Aquinas, and Maggie and Allie, who attend St. Joseph Catholic School, have enjoyed their pageant experience, but Nanette said she has had to field questions about the negative side of pageants.

"It's nothing like what you see on TV with all the bad publicity that people get," she said. "We don't do fake tans, fake teeth. Everything is very natural. The younger girls can't wear makeup."

Nanette said she noticed that the pageants had a positive effect on her daughters.

"It's getting in front of people, building their self confidence, talking in front of people," she said. "The interview side of it is great when they go out with people and (will) be able to talk to adults one on one."

Although entering pageants has its benefits, it has not been easy for Nanette or her husband, Richard, she said.

"We do fundraising," Nanette said. "We have to go get sponsors of course. It's not cheap. That is one thing the girls have to do, too. I don't do it for them."

To prepare for competition, the girls see a coach about once a month, Nanette said. Additionally, Katie and Maggie have experience performing on competitive dance troups.

"We kind of work with them on questions that they might get in an interview," she said. "It kind of just helps them to answer a question on the spot."

Maggie and Allie will compete at the National Miss American Coed Pageant Nov. 24-29 at the Hilton Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.