And then there was one.

Bree Boyce, Miss Capital City, was crowned Miss South Carolina Saturday night at The Township Auditorium. The pageant celebrated its 75th year, and its first under the leadership of the Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization. The Florence native Boyce, 22, has lost more than 110 pounds in recent years. She won a preliminary swimsuit round, but she separated herself with her strong singing voice and her sharp answers to the on-stage questions.

Miss Columbia teen Caitlen Patton was named Miss South Carolina Teen. Patton, from Summerville, slightly stumbled with her onstage question, but she was impressive during talent and evening wear.

Here she is: Didn’t get a close-up of the miss and teen winners? Well, they will hold a press conference at 10:30 this morning at Embassy Suites Hotel Columbia, 200 Stoneridge Drive.

Moving on: The Miss America pageant will be held Jan. 14, 2012 at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The Miss America Teen pageant is Aug. 20 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Always first: Wayring Knight, crowned the first Miss South Carolina in 1937, was scheduled to be one of the more than 30 past winners who attended the pageant this year. But Knight died May 5. She was 91.Knight is being honored with a small exhibition of her Miss S.C. memorabilia at Bella Vista Art & Framing, 324 State St., West Columbia. The items on view includes Knight’s Miss S.C. sash.

The voice: Megan Senn held a poster-board sign with the slogan “Boyce With a Voice.” Her mother-in-law, Jane Senn, held a drawstring trash bag. Inside were glitter-caked letters. “We have a light-up sign, but it’s on the way,” she said. They were there to cheer on Bree Boyce, who has an impressive operatic voice . Boyce has a unique pageant story: She once weighed 230 pounds, a whopping number in the beauty-queen world. Boyce’s platform was eating healthy and fighting obesity. “She’s living her platform,” said Senn who also carried a crown made out of paper. Boyce also won a swimsuit preliminary.

Sister act?: Greater Lyman teen Sydney Sill and Greater Mauldin teen Brook Sill have the same last name, they’re both from Duncan and they both attend James F. Byrnes High School in that city. They both made the top 5, so one wondered if there was any sibling rivalry. Got ya! They aren’t sisters.

Program notes: The 600-page program was a popular item. The women selling the book kept having to retrieve more from a storage room. “They’re selling like hot cakes,” one said.

Reach Taylor at (803) 771-8362.