Pageant hopefuls taking to runway

By NICK MALAWSKEY - nmalawskey@lewistownsentinel.com

Sentinel photo by KASSIA PISKLAK Mallory Keith, left, Calsie Boyd and Brittny Sparrow take time for a photo-op in their evening gowns Tuesday at a send-off event at Burnham Lions Club before heading to their respective state pageants in Nazareth. The young women had an opportunity to model their pageant wardrobes for the final time before the main event. The pageant begins Sunday and runs through Saturday, July 1.

BURNHAM — The dresses have been altered and hemmed, the speeches written and rehearsed. For two Miss Pennsylvania and one Miss Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen hopefuls, the only thing that remains is the show opening.

On Sunday, Miss Central Pennsylvania, Miss Greater Juniata Valley and Miss Central Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen will travel to Nazareth to compete for their respective state titles.

“This has been a really great year,” said Brittny Sparrow, Miss Central Pennsylvania. “I’ve gotten to meet some really amazing people.”

Sparrow, who has previously been Miss Greater Berks County, said while she has been practicing all aspects of the competition, she has been focusing on her public speaking.

Sparrow said she got her start in pageants when, at age 13, she found a flyer in the mail for one.

“I had to beg and beg my parents,” she said, laughing. “We didn’t know what we were getting into.”

Sparrow, a senior at Muhlenberg College, said it has at times been difficult to balance her school work with her crown, but the past year has helped her grow up a lot.

“It’s a give and take with the pageant,” Sparrow said. “I think it was a good decision to get out in the community and give back.”

Sparrow’s platform is the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, an organization she has been active in for a number of years.

“It’s something I will advocate for the rest of my life,” she said, adding that the organization has been especially helpful to her as a pre-service teacher in the Allentown School District.

“It has helped me to be a better teacher,” she said.

Teaching is something Mallory Keith, Miss Greater Juniata Valley, also has an interest in, as she is seeking a minor in education at Point Park University, where she is a senior.

Keith said jokingly she blamed her mother for her interest in pageants, as her mother entered her in her first pageant, which she won.

Unfortunately, Keith’s initial victory was followed by a string of defeats, until her senior year in high school, when she became re-interested in the competitions.

Keith said she entered the Miss Greater Juniata Valley competition not expecting to win.

Since taking the crown, she said she has been very active in promoting her platform, “building families through special needs adoption,” — a topic that hits close to home, as her family includes two special needs children who were adopted.

“Through this they have become the biggest advocates,” she said. “I’m happy to have a platform that (includes) my family.”

Keith said while being Miss Greater Juniata Valley has been a lot of fun, it has also been a lot of work.

“It is a job,” Keith said of holding the crown and the community involvement it has entailed. “It’s really up to you to make that commitment and get involved.”

Miss Central Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen Calsie Boyd said she had gotten started in pageants after watching her sister compete.

“It looks so cool and like so much fun,” she said. The Miss Central Pennsylvania Outstanding Teen was only the second pageant she had competed in.

Boyd said she could not have gone so far without the support of her family, whom she said were usually the ones in the audience with the signs supporting her.

“It feels so good when I look out and I see the support out there,” she said.

Boyd said she became involved in her platform, “promoting volunteerism” after working with her local church.

“I’m really excited for the Miss Teen Pageant,” she said.

And while all three ladies said they were nervous about the coming competition, months of preparation and drill have prepared them for the trials they will face.

Sparrow, who has competed before on the state level, had some words of advice for the two newcomers.

“Just enjoy it,” she said, saying her first trip was “the most overwhelming experience of my life.”

“I gave it my all and had a lot of fun,” she said.

The weekend begins with preliminary competition Wednesday, with final competitions wrapping up on Saturday, July 1.

Section: Community    Posted: 6/21/2006