Jamie Kattner after being crowned Miss South Dakota on May 31, 2025. (Courtesy of Miss South Dakota scholarship competition)
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article, which was intended to publish in a recent edition of the Huron Plainsman, is being published here at the request of the Plainsman’s managing editor following the newspaper’s sudden closure last week.
HURON — Before May 31, Huron native Jamee Kattner had a plan for how things were going to happen this year. She had recently graduated from South Dakota State University and had a teaching job lined up in the fall.
She had one more thing before her summer, and it altered her next year and her whole life.
She participated for the second time in the Miss South Dakota competition in Brookings on the final weekend of May, and the music education major focused her community service initiative and her talent around music. When the final winners were announced, Kattner received the crown from reigning Miss South Dakota Joelle Simpson.
A change this year in the Miss America program meant a big change for Kattner, though, as the national competition was moved from late December to early September in Orlando, Florida, with the final award show on Sept. 7.
That means squeezing approximately seven months of fundraising into just three months, so Kattner has been busy.
“A ‘whirlwind’ is the exact word I use all the time,” she said. “One moment, you’re competing, enjoying the experience. You hope you win, of course, but you enjoy making friends and the fun of the competition.
“Then you win. Now, you have deadlines and all of these other things you need to be doing.”
Kattner is entering the home stretch of her fundraising events. She is doing a trunk show at the Huron Country Club on Aug. 23, beginning at 2:30 p.m. She will show off her wardrobe for the Miss America competition, and musical entertainment will be provided.
In the time between planned fundraisers, she will continue doing events around the state, hoping that those appearances also bring in funds toward her trip to Orlando. Her final event will be singing the national anthem for the Wednesday night bull riding event at the South Dakota State Fair before she leaves the next day for Orlando.
Through Aug. 3, Kattner had logged 4,160 miles for appearances as Miss South Dakota. She said her best experience was being at Mount Rushmore on Independence Day, where she had the opportunity to sing the national anthem.
“I was so excited to meet everyone, but then, they’re all excited to meet me,” Kattner recalled. “I think all of the people I met that night were from a different place.”
Amid the crowds, though, there’s also been a feeling of isolation.
“I’m the only person I know who is going through this, so others can’t really relate at the same level,” she said.
To that end, Kattner has leaned on the “Forever Miss South Dakotas,” previous winners of the award who offer advice and any assistance they can in her fundraising and preparation for the September competition, not to mention a place to stay during her extensive travels. She specifically noted that Huron and the Huron area have an abundance of previous Miss South Dakota winners (Carrie Wintle, 2018, Iroquois; Miranda Mack, 2017, Redfield; Loren Vaillancourt, 2010, Huron; Callee Bauman, 2006, Huron; Sara Frankenstein, 1998, Tulare; Gwen Resick, 1973, Clark; Sandra Hart, 1952, Huron; and Myrna Clemenson, 1948, Conde).
Kattner is attempting to be the first Miss America from South Dakota. In 1950, Irene O’Connor of Burbank finished runner-up, and four other previous winners finished in the top 15, most recently Alexandra Hoffman of Eureka in 2008.
“When I called up the school where I had a job for this coming year and told them that I wouldn’t be able to be there because I won, they said, ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’” Kattner said. “That’s exactly how I’ve felt throughout this experience. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
