The 29th annual Mr. Watkins Mill is tonight, May 19th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the auditorium. Tickets were sold for $3 at lunch in the mixing bowl and will be sold for $5 at the door.

This year’s event will be will be hosted by SADD sponsor Ana Mitten and Orange Nation sponsor Matthew Johnson, who will be directing the show from behind the scenes. The event is Oscar/red carpet themed, so guests are recommended to dress up in their very best attire. There will be Oscar themed decorations such as a red carpet, props for a photo-booth, and life-size celebrity cut outs.

“It’s the last event for seniors and we thought it would be fun if we let them dress up one more time. That’s why we decided on the red carpet event,” Mitten said.

There are nine contestants of Mr. Watkins Mill competing for the title of Mr. Watkins Mill. All contestants are from the graduating class of 2017. There will be several different categories throughout the night. The show will kick off with the introduction of the contestants and judges  

The boys will perform a dance, followed by the swimsuit and talent portions of the night. To close out the show the final event of the night will be a Q&A, where the contestants will also showcase their casual wear.

“The boys are rehearsing hard at STEP [and after school for] several days,” Johnson said. Many students are helping out the boys in rehearsal to prepare for the show.

In between categories, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) will be performing a skit on how to handle situations that involve drugs, alcohol, and safe driving. There will be a series of stories that involve bad decision making and a police commander will talk about the safe way to handle situations.

Guests who buy pre-sale tickets can say who they are attending the event for, which will give that contestant an advantage. “The guy that sells the most pre-sale tickets will get five points additional bonus towards their score during the night of the event,” Johnson added.

There will be four judges and two special guest judges, Jody Tyler, who was the previous sponsor of SADD and Mr. Watkins Mill, and Police Commander Dinesh Patil. The contestant crowned Mr. Watkins Mill will be donating the ticket sale proceeds to a charity of their choice.

The event will be a great night for everyone to enjoy and be entertained. “What a way to end [the year with] something really fun and upbeat.”Mitten said.