Whoever wins the crown of Ms. Burly McLean will have to hold onto it for a long time before outlasting the nine-year reign of the first titleholder, Hilda Hittamoose, more familiarly known around Wilton as the Rev. Paul Schauer.

Chris Patrick, the current Ms. Burly McLean, has held the title since 2004. But his reign is drawing to a close - the third Ms. Burly McLean pageant is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in the Wilton School gymnasium.

The men's "beauty" pageant, complete with swimsuit, talent, evening gown and interview categories, is held periodically in Wilton to raise funds for school projects.

In 2004, nearly $1,900 was raised for Wilton High School Dollars for Scholars. This year's event, sponsored by the Women of Wilton and the Wilton Elementary School Council, will raise funds for new playground equipment.

Shelley Porter, intrigued by a similar pageant she attended in Rolette, felt that Wilton could do the same.

She has since coordinated all three pageants, each one raising money for school-related causes, with the money coming from a $5 admission fee and from audience members' cash votes for the People's Choice Award.

This year's high-profile judges include Gov. John Hoeven and first lady Mikey Hoeven; Mary Tello Pool of Bismarck; Jennifer Toso-Kenna, Mrs. North Dakota-America; and Wilton Mayor Kyle Tschosik.

Some of the men take a bit of persuading to enter, but they accept because it's for a good community cause, Porter said.

And a few will back out - "It's always nip and tuck," she said - but this year nine have stepped forward, which is good, she said.

This time the pageant theme is "Spring Fling." Elementary students help out by making the decorations and collecting the audience votes for People's Choice.

The contestants and their "pageant personas" are: John Thompson, Ms. Honeysuckle; Barney Strand, Ms. Rose Bud; Garrett Kudrna, Ms. Daisy Petal; Bob Ell, Ms. Chrysanthemum; Earl Aune, Ms. Polly Parton; Jeff Frank, Ms. Coral Bell; Eric Scharnowski, Ms. Calla Lily; Stewart Schatz, Ms. D'an Delion; and John Hausauer, Ms. Lacy Aster.

The pageant wouldn't be possible without the support of the contestants' families, Porter said. One of the contestants is so broad-shouldered that his wife is having to make him a dress, enlarging even the biggest pattern she could find, Porter said.

Porter herself has cleaned out area thrift shops for clothes and bought up every size "large"swimsuit in Bismarck, she said. This year she purchased three additional wigs to make sure there's enough long hair to go around.

Finding shoes big enough is a particular challenge, so the guys often decorate men's flipflops or choose high-heeled sandals with stretch straps: "If nothing else, maybe (using)duct tape"to hold them on, she said.