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NEWARK - In the early 90s, Renee Autherson Brown put Licking County on the national stage when she competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Ohio 1991.
Twenty-five years later, her daughter, Grace Brown, is following in her footsteps.
Brown and Grace, both of Heath, are returning to Atlantic City this weekend to celebrate Brown’s 25th year since winning Miss Ohio.
Sixteen-year-old Grace will compete in the Miss Northwestern Ohio's Outstanding Teen preliminary on Nov. 12 in Defiance. The preliminary is the first step of the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant.
A large part of each contestant’s role is to prepare a platform about something they are passionate about and in which they are actively involved.
Grace said she plans to pursue a career in science, so she decided to develop her platform around women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
She plans to talk to middle school girls about considering STEM as a possible career.
"It's important to me because I personally really love math and science," Grace said. "It's important to everyone else because we really need people in STEM right now. They need people, especially girls, and girls need to know that so that they're not only looking at girl-type jobs, stereotypical girl jobs."
In the pageant, contestants participate in sportswear, evening gown and talent competitions, as well as an interview.
Grace said she is most nervous about the interview and she is working on brushing up on current events and preparing for possible interview questions.
For the talent competition, Grace will perform a 90-second tap routine. She dances at Patty’s Dance Center in Newark, where her mom also did tap when she was younger.
“It was one of the first types of dance that I started doing,” Grace said.
Grace has been working with different choreographers for the routine. She said she is excited to perform and said her routine will be unique.
Although Grace has grown up surrounded by the pageant world from a young age, and enjoyed going to pageants with her mom, she said she never had wanted to participate in a pageant.
"I didn't want to be a mom 2.0," Grace said. “I wanted to be my own person."
Her mom ran Miss Licking County for five years and had judged pageants in the past.
Grace said she doesn’t want to win just because she’s Miss Ohio’s daughter, but she also doesn’t want to be looked over because of that either.
Grace decided to participate when she realized the scholarship money and opportunities the pageants could afford her.
Brown had received about $12,000 in scholarships during her time competing, which was used to help fund her education at Ohio University.
Brown said being named Miss Ohio afforded her many opportunities and did a lot to shape and lead her to the career she has now as a direct sales coach.
“It’s opened every single door,” Brown said. “It’s amazing what it’s led to. There’s absolutely nothing to lose and absolutely so much to gain.”
Grace said she wants to try something new and have fun. If she likes it, she said she might try to participate in Miss Ohio.
Grace said her brother even encouraged her to do Miss Outstanding Teen and said she could win.
“Anything positive coming out of my brother’s mouth, should probably listen to it.”
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2016/09/09/miss-ohio-1991s-daughter-following-her-footsteps/89909538/