pwoodse: Changes to Miss America parade irks some longtime supporters

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The Miss America pageant returns to Atlantic City this year. Here, Deidre Downs of Alabama waves after being crowned Miss America in 2004. (Noah Addis/The Star-Ledger)

ATLANTIC CITY ? When Miss America returns to Atlantic City this year, so too will the "Show Us Your Shoes" parade.

But there will be changes to the traditional march along the boardwalk and that has irked some locals, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

?You?ve got to have the people with sand in their shoes. It?s not going to be what it always was,? Atlantic City resident Hariann Bernstein, who helped organize a viewing area at New York Avenue, told the newspaper. ?I think they think they?re going to do Broadway on the Boardwalk.?

The Miss America Organization has hired an Emmy-award winning producer to help coordinate the parade this year. In years past, a group of locals organized the parade.

It will also be more expensive to participate.

The newspaper reported that during the last parade in Atlantic City in 2004 it cost $200 to enter a float in the parade. This year, that fee will be at least $2,000.