Miss Grays Harbor and Miss Grays Harbor Outstanding Teen 2017 will be crowned this Saturday at the 7th Street Theatre in Hoquiam.
The pageant starts at 7 p.m., the doors open at 6:30. Tickets are general admission, $15 each and available from Harbor Drug, Harbor Shoes, from contestants, Miss Grays Harbor staff and at the door.
This year, there are six competing for the Miss Grays Harbor Crown. They are:
Stephanie Hornback, 23, a graduate of Grays Harbor College and the daughter of Brian and Debbie Hornback. For her talent she will sing, and her platform is standing up against teen dating violence.
Ericka Manwell, 19, who is attending Grays Harbor College and is the daughter of Ricky and Stephanie Manwell. She will also sing for the talent portion of the competition, and lists her platform as Choose my Plate, a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that promotes healthy eating habits.
Katurah Martin, 19, who lists her education as Aberdeen High School. She is the daughter of Dominique and Evalina Johnstone and will play the flute during her talent segment. Her platform is dysautonomia awareness.
Paige Folkers, 17, a student at Hoquiam High School and the daughter of Garrett and Shayne Folkers. She will sing for her talent portion of the pageant and her platform is hunger awareness.
Kylie Shephard, 20, who lists her education as the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her parents are Craig and Diane Shepard, her platform is the Dyspraxia Foundation. Kylie will perform an Irish hardshoe dance during the talent competition.
Ariana Barré, 20, who has studied at Seattle University. Her parents are Eric and Michelle Barré, her talent contribution will be a vocal performance, and her platform is Doctoring Your Future: Avoiding Preventable Accidents and Illnesses.
There are five phases of the Miss Grays Harbor competition:
A 10-minute private interview with the judges’ panel is held with each participant the day of the competition. Judges are looking for valid opinions, speech, vocabulary and grammar, style, and emotional control.
Responses to two on-stage questions, designed for the contestant to make a final statement about her platform and to allow her personality to be expressed. Contestants are judged on sense of confidence, personality and stage presence, richness of voice, expression, vocabulary, and sincerity.
Lifestyle and fitness, which includes judging the contestants’ overall first impression, statement of physical fitness and health, overall proportion of the figure, posture, grace, and sense of confidence.
In the talent program, judges are looking for personality, interpretive ability, technical skill level, technique, and stage presence, according to pageant directors.
In the evening wear portion, judges are looking for the overall first impression offered by the contestant, sense of confidence, personality and stage presence, technique, walk, posture, grace, and sense of attractiveness.
In past years the outstanding teen competition has been held before the Miss Grays Harbor pageant; this year both will be held the same evening. The judging process of the teen competition varies slightly from that of the Miss Grays Harbor competition, according to pageant board member Keaton Bradley. This year’s outstanding teen competitors include:
Shayli Burlingame, 13, a student at Miller Junior High School. She is the daughter of Mark Burlingame and Robin Green. Shayli will sing during the talent competition, and her platform is America’s seniors.
Jordan Dehnert, 15, a Hoquiam High School student and the daughter of Tracey and Suzanne Dehnert. A vocal performance will be her contribution to the talent portion of the pageant, and her platform is suicide prevention.
Paicyn Dragoo, 16, a student at Aberdeen High School. Her parents are Ben and Trina Dragoo, she will demonstrate American Sign Language during her talent portion of the pageant, and platform is the nonprofit Kids Hunting Foundation.
According to pageant directors, the Miss Grays Harbor and Miss Grays Harbor Outstanding Teen programs are an official preliminary to the Miss America and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen programs. Scholarships are available to the more than 12,000 young women who participate in state and local competitions across the nation. The Miss Grays Harbor pageant will award more than $8,000 in scholarships this year alone.
