Presque Isle’s Bonville and Bearden earn state crowns
Thornton Academy’s Garland Auditorium in Saco was the setting Aug. 6 for the annual Miss Maine Academic Scholarship Pageant sponsored by Crossroads Youth Center, a 501 C3 nonprofit youth program promoting healthy lifestyles for Maine youth. Thirty-five young Maine women, who won their respective local competition, vied for the academic titles and a $10,000 national scholarship.
Photo courtesy of Deb Landry
LOCAL LADIES WIN STATE TITLES — Casey Lynn Bonville and Brittany Jacquelin Bearden earned state titles during a pageant held Aug. 6 in Saco. Bonville, of Presque Isle, was crowned Miss Maine High School America 2012. Bearden, of Presque Isle, was crowned the new Miss Maine Collegiate America 2012.
Brittany Jacquelin Bearden, of Presque Isle, daughter of Monica Bearden and Jeff Bearden and a student at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, was crowned the new Miss Maine Collegiate America 2012.
Casey Lynn Bonville of Presque Isle, a senior at Presque Isle High School, was crowned Miss Maine High School America 2012. Bonville also won Miss Photogenic and the Facebook People’s Choice Photo Contest. Casey is the daughter of Fred and Sandra Bonville.
Both Bearden and Bonville won a prize package worth over $5,000 which included an all-expense-paid trip to San Antonio, Texas, in March to compete at the National Miss America’s High School and Collegiate Pageant. They will be joined by Miss Collegiate America 2011 Shannon Rae Folsom, from Saco/UMaine, who is the first national titleholder from Maine.
Ameena Vizcarrondo, 13 of Calais, was crowned the first Miss Jr. High School — a new addition to the national pageant system.
Other evening awards were presented to Victoria Williamson of Presque Isle, who was named second runner-up in the Miss Jr. High and received the overall award for Outstanding Academic Achievement; and Taylor Santos of Saco, first runner-up in the High School division who was elected Miss Congeniality by her peers.
An afternoon competition crowned Marissa McGraw of Lincoln as Miss Maine Elementary, Eliza Jack of Baileyville as Miss Maine Primary, with 4-year-old Trystin Flinner of Hollis Center named Miss Maine Preschool. Natalie Claverie of Dexter was crowned Miss Maine Princess for her outstanding community service.
The judges considered contestants’ academic achievement, and community service experience in a personal interview, along with runway fashion and evening gown. The pageant does not have a swimsuit or talent component, according to Deb Landry, executive director of Crossroads.
“We are strictly a scholarship program,” remarked Landry. “Young women and men are offered various scholarships and participate in community service by promoting healthy living for Maine youth and bullying prevention, on the national level. The pageant is just one program. In collaboration with the Let’s Go Maine, 5-2-1-0 program, the participants visit schools and organizations to promote healthy lifestyles, including safe schools and bullying prevention.”
The Maine Academic Scholarship Program is a fundraiser under the direction of the 501c3 not-for-profit organization Crossroads. MASP is designed to award scholarships to young women and men of Maine while providing opportunities for personal growth, community service and academic achievement.
For more information, visit www.missmainepageant.com or www.americashighschoolpageant.com, e-mail Deb Landry at editor@breathemaine.org, or call 838-2146.
