WAGONER — When Wagoner High School senior Kaileigh Bullard was crowned Oklahoma’s Junior Miss 2008 last week, some of the loudest cheers came from Oklahoma’s Junior Miss 1979.

“I was crying,” said the 1979 Junior Miss. “I was whooping. I was hollering. I was crying. I wanted it for her so badly.”

And for a very special reason. Gayle Clark Bullard, Oklahoma’s Junior Miss 1979, is Kaileigh Bullard’s mother.

Kaileigh, 17, said she decided to enter Junior Miss after finding out it was still offered.

Bullard, 46, said seeing her daughter attend and participate in Oklahoma’s Junior Miss “brought back a lot of fond memories.”

She said she told her daughter to “just be herself.”

“Let Jesus shine through you,” she said. “It’s what’s inside that counts. It’s what’s inside that’s worth showing.”

Kaileigh had plenty to show at the contest. She received the overall Self-Expression, Scholastic, Fitness, Talent and Judges’ Interview awards in the contest. An accomplished musician, Kaileigh sang, did a clog dance and fiddled to “This Country’s Rockin/ Orange Blossom Special” at the pageant.

That’s one big difference from what her mother did 32 years ago.

“I prepared a talk about Oklahoma and did the Lord’s Prayer in Indian sign language,” Gayle Bullard said.

She said she also had to sew a garment.

“Simplicity patterns was a national sponsor,” she said. “Kraft Foods was a national sponsor, so I had to cook something. Kodak was a national sponsor, so I took lots of pictures.”

Gayle Bullard finished as fourth runner-up in the America’s Junior Miss pageant in Mobile, Ala. Kaileigh will compete in the 51st national finals this June in Mobile.

Gayle Bullard said this year’s routines appear a lot more difficult than what she went through.

“There is a lot more fitness,” she said.