After 10 years, Ellie Holtman is still amazed that there are signs that have her name on them when drivers enter Montgomery City on the north and south ends of town.

The signs said, “Home of 2013 Miss Missouri USA Ellie Holtman.” Those signs were put up after Holtman became the first Montgomery City resident to be named Miss Missouri USA.

“This small town is amazing,” Holtman said. “They’re so supportive. It’s just an awesome community that I live in. That kind of made it so special.”

Holtman earned her honor on Nov. 4, 2012 at the Miss Missouri Pageant at the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts in Lindenwood University. She qualified for the 2013 Miss USA Pageant in Las Vegas, Nev., eight months later. Holtman said being crowned Miss Missouri surprised the Montgomery City community.

“It was a little crazy,” Holtman said. “I felt like everybody was kind of shocked. It was wild.”

The 30-year-old Holtman is now in her sixth year as an employee at Family Pharmacy in Montgomery City. She said she is happy to return to her hometown to work at her family business, which is owned by her parents, Jack and Janet.

“I love my patients and I love working here,” Holtman said.

A 2010 Montgomery County graduate, Holtman decided to run in the Miss Missouri USA Pageant so she can take a break from pharmacy school. She was then a third-year student at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

“I was sick of all of this science, I was sick of being in the lab rooms and I was sick of all of that, so I was like, ‘I’m going to try something.’ I was 20 years old,” Holtman said. “I decided that I was just going to try it. So I entered the pageant. My hope was that I would make the top 15, which I thought would be a great accomplishment. Then, I made the top 15. I was like, ‘Oh, great!’”

Holtman came on top in a state pageant that included contestants who were cheerleaders and broadcast journalists.

“They were really nice,” Holtman said. “It was great to get to know them and meet all kinds of new people. I was shocked, though.”

Holtman made appearances in numerous places such as Shriners Hospital, Jonesburg Christmas Parade, the Missouri State Capitol, the Montgomery County Fair and CertainTeed in Jonesburg.

Holtman said she enjoyed her visit to Shriners Hospital.

“It’s hard enough for adults to have to go through treatments, but when you have kids who have to go through all of these terrible treatments and battle for their life every day, anything to put a smile on their face puts a smile on my face,” Holtman said.

Holtman went to the national pageant in Las Vegas in June, hoping to become the first Missourian since Shandi Finnessey in 2004 to be crowned Miss USA. But Holtman lost to Miss Connecticut Erin Brady in an event that was nationally televised on NBC.

“ It was a wake-up call,” Holtman said. “I have never been to Vegas. I have never met celebrities before. I felt like Elly May Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies. I was a young kid who got this crazy experience. It was a whirlwind. It was the first time I was in the pageant, too. A lot of these girls I competed with competed for years and years and years, so they kind of knew what to expect.”

Holtman later returned to the St. Louis College of Pharmacy to finish her degree. She graduated in 2017.

“I took a year off of school when I was competing because there were a lot of responsibilities,” Holtman said. “It wasn’t fair to my pharmacy school or to the pageant if I didn’t take the year off. I wanted to take the year off and give it my all and prepare and meet people and do as many appearances as I possibly can. It was a once in a lifetime experience, so I was going to make the most of it.”