February 20, 1966 Silent/sound The excitement was heightened as the preliminaries to the Miss San Diego contest entered their last few hours. Sometime tonight, it’s expected that the ten finalists will be selected to compete for the title March 19th at the Community Concourse. 31 contestants were on hand at the Grant Hotel this afternoon, parading before the judges in formal gowns and participating in the talent portion of the contest. This is the most important half of the preliminaries for the girls, since talent counts toward 50 percent of each contestant’s score. The acts run the gamut from dramatic readings to dancing and baton twirling. 21-year-old Kathy Marino of San Diego State sang a tune from South Pacific. The reigning Miss San Diego Darlee Hassman and her predecessor, Darice Tippets were among the judges listening and watching the girls compete. Among the first acts on stage was eighteen-year-old Mary Jorgenson, who lists her talent as violin playing.