Wayne State University student Sarah Suydam wins the title of Miss St. Clair Shores. Sisters Hannah and Jenna Dell also won in different categories Saturday.
By Sean Work  |  Email the author  |  July 29, 2012

Sisters Hannah and Jenna Dell won in different categories Saturday in the Miss St. Clair Shores Scholarship Pageant at South Lake High School.

Hannah, 14, won in the Teen Miss St. Clair Shores competition while her younger sister, Jenna, 10, was crowned Little Miss Saint Clair Shores. Each girl was first in a field of seven contestants.

Sarah Suydam was crowned Miss St. Clair Shores, and will be going on to compete for the Miss Michigan crown in 2013.

The ceremony was hosted by 2011 Miss St. Clair Shores, and current Miss Michigan, Angela Venditti and 1973 Miss Michigan Sherry Agnello Colby.

Each contestant had to answer questions in a private interview off stage and demonstrate a talent. In addition, the young women answered questions such as “describe your best and worst quality” and “what would you talk about if you had an hour of airtime on national television” on stage.

Contestants also modeled age-appropriate clothing. Both Hannah and Jenna Dell said the backstage interview was the most difficult portion of the contest. “I was worried I wouldn't do a good job,” said Jenna. It's possible that Jenna's older sister was able to coach her, as Hannah Dell won the Little Miss contest in 2010.

Sarah Suydam won the Miss St. Clair Shores category in a field of eight contestants. A broadcast journalism major at Wayne State University, Suydam, 21, was excited to win. For the talent portion she sang a jazz number. Backstage after the show Suydam was still reeling. “It kind of hasn't sunk in yet,” she said.

Last year's Miss St. Clair Shores, Angela Venditti, was crowned Miss Michigan in June and will be competing in the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas next year.  

Source: St Clair Shores Patch

MISS OHIO  |  JUNE 23, 2012  |  BY: MICHAEL MCGUIRE

Elissa McCracken will represent Ohio at the Miss America 2013 pageant.

She was crowned Miss Ohio 2012 Saturday night after three days of competition in Renaissance Theater in Mansfield.

At the time of her crowning, she was the reigning Miss West Central Ohio.

View slideshow: Miss Ohio 2012 Elissa McCracken A native of Waynesburg, PA, she is a student at Ohio Northern University at Ada.

A pianist, McCracken's pageant platform is "Stop Cyberbullying."

McCracken will travel to Las Vegas in January for the Miss America pageant. The final night of competition and crowning of a new Miss America will be broadcast live on the ABC television network.

Also honored at the Ohio pageant were:

• First Runner-up: Miss Montgomery County Alissa Brumbaugh of North Canton, a student at the University of Akron;
• Second Runner-up: Miss Greater Butler County Anjelica Francisco of Cincinnati;
• Third Runner-up: Miss Maple City Kristen Free of Frankfort; and
• Fourth Runner-up: Miss All American City Mahogany Fleming of Cincinnati.

For more information about the Miss Ohio pageant, visit its official website.

Source: Examiner.com

Anjelica Francisco, a young advocate for women’s healthcare, will be among the 25 contestants from throughout Ohio competing June 23 in Mansfield, Ohio, for the Miss Ohio title and the right to enter the Miss America Pageant next January. Francisco, 24, now represents Southwest Ohio, while serving as Miss Greater Butler County. She was selected to wear that crown at a contest with seven regional contestants March 17 at Miami University in Oxford.

Francisco, who is representing the Southwest Ohio region, competes for a $10,000 scholarship in the Miss Ohio pageant. She will be singing Gershwin’s “I’ve Got Rhythm” during her talent performance in the Miss Ohio Pageant.

If she becomes Miss Ohio, she has the opportunity to compete for a $50,000 scholarship in the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas.

She was fourth runner-up in the Miss Michigan Pageant in 2010 when she was attending Eastern Michigan University.

As a graduate of Cincinnati's School for Creative and Performing Arts and a recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a degree in psychology, Francisco said her goal is to utilize contest prize funds to further her education. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in clinical social work at Ohio State University, and specialize in relationship and family counseling. She plans to return to the area to pursue her career.

Her platform issue is “Women's Healthcare: Be Your Own Advocate.” As part of her advocacy since becoming Miss Butler County, she has interacted with a number of female students in area schools, encouraging them to become proactive in their healthcare and encouraging young girls to make healthy choices in their lives.

She said she also is concerned about cuts in state funding for healthcare services to women. “I see the biggest problem for women my age is lack of access to healthcare. So, that is why President Obama’s Affordable Care Act is so important (because it) allowed me and other women my age to remain on our parents’ insurance policies until we are 26 years old,’’ she said. Having health insurance is one of the requirements for participants in the Miss Ohio Pageant.

Francisco said her role model is her great-grandmother, Alice Nored of Cincinnati, an assistant teacher who taught her to read at an early age and a member of the local foster grandparent program.

She has six sisters and four brothers in a blended family. She and all of her siblings are or will be high school graduates, and three are in college.

Source: The Cincinnati Herald

By Lisha Arino | larino@mlive.com

MUSKEGON, MI – Each year, dozens of young women come to the Port City with dreams of winning a sparkly crown and scholarship money, along with a chance to raise awareness for their platform.

Each year, one contestant's dream comes true and she spends the next year as Miss Michigan.

But what happens to the winner after she passes on the crown?

Here's what a few former Miss Michigan title holders told MLive and the Chronicle:

Nicole Blaszczyk: Miss Michigan has 'definitely given me the proper tools for everyday life'

Nicole Blaszczyk won the Miss Michigan title in 2009 and spent the year talking about her platform, "Families facing substance abuse."

She called her year as Miss Michigan "an adventure" and "a four-year college experience all crammed into one."

"Anything can be thrown at you and you wear many different hats," she said. "As Miss Michigan, it's your job to just go into these different situations and just connect."

Blaszczyk she received an unexpected opportunity after passing on the crown.

"Immediately after I gave up my title, I was recruited by the Detroit Tigers," she said, adding that as a baseball fan, it was an "unbelievable opportunity."

Blaszczyk worked in the marketing department, handling social media, she said.

Now, Blaszczyk is in her third week as the assistant athletic director at Wayne State University, where she received a degree in business administration in 2009.

She credits the Miss Michigan competition with helping her get to where she is today.

"It's definitely given me the proper tools to prepare for everyday life," she said.

In particular, it helped her develop her communication and networking skills, she said.

"Miss Michigan kind of gave me that courage and the tools to go up to people and start communicating and just talk to people," she said, calling that ability an "important skill for business."

Blaszczyk said being Miss Michigan doesn't end after taking off the crown.

"You have to continue to live that legacy," she said, referring to organization's stated goals of community service, education and being a role model.

In addition to living that legacy and starting a new job, Blaszczyk said she is also planning a wedding. She said she is hoping to get married next summer.

By Lisha Arino | larino@mlive.com MLive.com

MUSKEGON, MI – No one has been crowned yet, but two young women earned awards Thursday night at the first preliminary round for the Miss Michigan competition, held in the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts on June 14.

Miss Spirit of the State, Sarah Suydam, from St. Clair Shores, won the preliminary talent award, a $500 cash scholarship, for her sassy and soulful rendition of "Something's Got a Hold on Me" from the movie, "Burlesque."

Miss Stateline, Concord native Cassandra Kramer, won the Kirsten Haglund Swimsuit Award, a $250 scholarship, in a pink bikini.

For the preliminaries, the 31 contestants were divided into two groups. Half the contestants competed in the swimsuit and evening gown categories while the other half competed in talent and the on-stage question.

Friday night, the groups will switch.

First half strutted their stuff to an instrumental of the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" and looked stunning in their evening wear.

The second half impressed audiences with their talent performances, which included a dance twirl by Miss Greater Kalamazoo County, Shelby Beauregard, a hula number by Miss Tip of the Mitt, Holly Hollabaugh, and an acrobatic dance routine to the "Beetlejuice" theme by Miss Southwest Michigan Emily Kieliszewski, which she dedicated to her grandfather.

They were also challenged to think quickly on their feet through the on-stage question, which quizzed them on what they thought on topics like gay marriage, immigration and bailing out Greece and Spain.

On Saturday, June 15, the competition's finalists and this year's Miss Michigan will be announced.Contestants are judged individually, and are awarded points on a scale of one to ten in five categories: interview, talent, evening gown, swimwear and on-stage question.

The young lady who wins the crown also wins a $10,000 scholarship, a chance to compete at the Miss America pageant and the opportunity to raise awareness for her platform.

You can email Lisha Arino at larino@mlive.com, subscribe to her Facebook posts and follow her on Twitter: @lishaarino.