Being Miss Maumee Valley

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Pageant Press: Miss Mansfield hopefuls learn rules of the game

The following article and photo were copied from The Mansfield News Journal.




[Above photo by Jason J. Molyet/News Journal]

Miss Mansfield hopefuls learn rules of the gameBy Lisa Miller News Journal

MANSFIELD -- Turn off the cell phones and turn on the smiles.

Seven young women hoping to capture the Miss Mansfield Scholarship Program crown got that advice and plenty of encouragement at a contestants' forum Sunday.

"We are there for you. We are your number one support group, right after your parents," program director Laura Russell told the applicants during the afternoon session at Picture Perfect Studios on Lexington Avenue. She introduced other members of the team who will be putting on the program and urged the contestants to, "smile, support each other."

Three of the 10 women who have submitted their applications were unable to attend Sunday's get-together. Friday is the deadline to enter the Miss Ohio preliminary competition.

The Oct. 28 scholarship event at Mansfield Senior High School will take the theme "Masquerade." In keeping with the Halloween motif, the applicants got their numbers for the program in bags of candy Sunday.

Noting that she hasn't competed in any pageants since high school, Angela Lauren Speece at first appeared a little uneasy about getting the first spot, but said it would be OK. The 23-year-old, who majored in general fine arts and art education at Youngstown State University, said she is hoping to win money for graduate school.

Emily Cousino, 22, will also be making her first appearance in the Mansfield program. She is a former Miss Junior Michigan who went on to become Miss Junior America. A student at Lords College, Sylvania, she plans to sing a jazz number.

The candidates also heard a plea from the reigning Miss Mansfield, Sophia Davis.

"You have to give back to the community of Mansfield," she said, acknowledging that can be "really, really hard" when living in another city. Davis urged her potential successors to acknowledge the program's many volunteers and to, when asked, "Just say, 'Yeah, sure, I'll do it.' "

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