Miss New Jersey Parade takes over Ocean City Boardwalk
Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2016 10:22 pm
Hundreds of people lined the Ocean City Boardwalk on Wednesday night to watch Miss America hopefuls show their shoes and outfits as part of the annual Miss New Jersey Parade.
Residents and tourists started gathering close to an hour before the parade as the floats and cars began to line up at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier on Sixth Street. Outgoing Miss New Jersey Lindsey Giannini took her place at the front with tears in her eyes in what was her last parade in her current role.
Along the Boardwalk, children pointed to their favorite people in the parade. Receiving the biggest cheers were Santa Claus and Miss Somerset County, who was dressed as Thomas the Tank Engine.
“Just to see all the excited faces and all the little girls who look up to all the queens, it’s just so exciting,” said Francesca Le’Anna Bishop, who is the 2016 Miss Barbizon and 2016 Miss New Jersey American Teenager. “It’s just really awesome.”
For some returning residents, the parade felt a little different this year.
“I definitely see more of a theme this year,” said Sam Amey, an employee at Ocean Treasures who was watching the parade from outside the store. “There are a lot more people here dressed up.”
For the fans of the Miss New Jersey Organization, the parade represented the start of an exciting week that will include the preliminary rounds of the Miss New Jersey Pageant tonight and Friday, the crowning Saturday and the next Miss New Jersey’s traditional ocean dip Sunday.
For the contestants, the parade is a time to relax a bit before the competition begins. The rest of this week is a culmination of months, and sometimes years, of hard work.
“I had the blessing of getting to individually meet all the contestants,” Miss South Shores Megan McGowan said. “I love seeing them all dress up. I’ve seen all the hard work they’ve put into preparing for the Miss New Jersey Pageant.”
For McGowan, the parade also represents a goal she hopes to successfully repeat next year.
“I’m competing in July for my next title,” she said, smiling. “When I have my next title, I can be in the parade again.”
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/missamerica/miss-new-jersey-parade-takes-over-ocean-city-boardwalk/article_28be7b96-3369-11e6-94ef-67656005337f.html
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