As school doors fling open to children at the start of school, we begin to think of the smell of fall and what comes next in 2012 — The Central Alabama Fair.

Aside from munching on corn dogs and twirling on dizzying rides, visitors to the fair can take part in all of the pageantry.

Director for the Miss Central Alabama Fair Pageants, Tracie Haskell, said there is a way for all ages to get involved this year. In addition to the Miss Central Alabama Fair, for ages 17 to 21-year-olds, there is a pageant for toddlers, young girls and young teens and even tweens.

“It is usually a good experience. The little girls especially, they love it,” Haskell said. “All of our little ones they get trophies and goody bags and crayons. So when they walk away, they don’t walk away feeling like they lost.”

The girls in every pageant get the chance to meet other girls, she said, because contestants come from all over the central region, including girls from Wetumpka and Billingsly.

“It is usually packed out on all four nights,” Haskell said. “So we do have a good response from the community.”

And though there are pageants for younger girls ages three to four in the Tiny Miss Pageant and ages five to six in the Little Miss Pageant, it will be nothing like an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras. This is not a high-glitz pageant — meaning it is more natural and all about fun and learning more than competition.

The pageants will kickoff on Monday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. with the Junior Miss Central Alabama Fair for ages 13 to 16-year-olds and the cost of entry is $75. On Oct. 2 the Miss Central Alabama Fair pageant will be held at 7 p.m. and Haskell said the entry fee is $85. On Oct. 6, the last day for pageants, there will be a Tiny Miss Central Alabama Fair pageant for ages three to four at 2 p.m., and then later at 4 p.m. the Little Miss Central Alabama Fair Pageant for girls ages five to six. The entry fees for the Tiny Miss and Little Miss Pageants are $40.

“There will be a winner, 1st Runner Up, 2nd Runner Up and Most Photogenic. Then for the older girls in Miss and Junior, we do Miss Congeniality,” Haskell said.