Miss New Hampshire Caroline Carter will crown her successor Saturday night. (KIMBERLEY HAAS/Union Leader Correspondent)
DERRY — As Miss New Hampshire Caroline Carter prepares to pass her title on, she says her year of service has helped her find her future career path.
The Dover native took a gap year between high school and college to promote her platform, “Stop Diabetes.”
Carter, 19, has Type 1 diabetes and she worked throughout the country to spread awareness and break stereotypes surrounding the disease.
Along the way, Carter discovered she wants to become a chiropractor and she is taking $30,000 in scholarship money with her when she starts her kinesiology studies at the University of New Hampshire.
Carter will crown Miss New Hampshire 2017 Saturday night.
One of 28 local pageant title holders will be selected by a panel of judges after three nights of competition and a personal interview.
Carter said the moment will be bittersweet.
Miss Hooksett Grace Orfao rehearses on Thursday for this weekend’s Miss New Hampshire pageant in Derry. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)
“I’m putting together my farewell speech right now. I’m pulling pictures out of my year, and it’s weird looking back and seeing some of the appearances I have done because there were some that were very, very meaningful to me. You just kind of go back in your mind a little bit and you’re hit with nostalgia,” Carter said during a final dress rehearsal before preliminary competition began Thursday.
Miss Exeter, Samantha Mackes, a senior at Simmons College, plans to pursue her master’s degree in elementary and special education. She has earned $15,000 through the Miss New Hampshire Scholarship Program and is already paying off some of her school bills using the money.
Mackes has a platform that focuses on mentoring youth.
“Mentoring is so important because you need to have someone to look up to. When I was growing up, I really didn’t have a mentor, and so when I became a mentor, I was really able to see the impact that it has on kids. Their grades go up, their attendance rates go up, and just their overall sense of being and having this great childhood, it just improves so much,” Mackes said.
This is the first year competing for Miss Manchester, Kaitlin Soucy, a senior at West High School.
“I always grew up watching all the girls and coming to the pageants, and to be able to be here and compete and help pay for my college next year is one of the most rewarding things. It still really hasn’t hit me yet that I am going to be competing,” Soucy said.
Miss Exeter Samantha Mackes tap dances while rehearsing on Thursday for this weekend's Miss New Hampshire pageant in Derry. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)
She will be studying at Southern New Hampshire University in the fall.
Soucy’s platform is focused on volunteerism. She has been volunteering since she was 13, even organizing service week and canned food drives at her high school.
Volunteers keep the Miss New Hampshire Scholarship Competition going. Some crew members have been with the organization for decades.
Co-producer Chris Piccolo has been involved for 22 years.
“It’s a great cause for the girls, but the reason I really do it is the team we have here. We have probably 15 to 20 volunteers backstage and we are like a family,” Piccolo said.
This year’s show has a world theme with numbers inspired by places all over the globe, Piccolo said.
Piccolo said people who want to help out next year can go to www.missnh.com for contact information.
Details about purchasing tickets for the competition and watching its livestream can be found on the website.
Miss New Hampshire is being held at the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy.
Saturday’s final competition starts at 6 p.m.
The winner will compete at Miss America 2018 in Atlantic City on Sept. 10. The Miss America Organization was founded in 1921, and is the largest contributor of scholarships for women in the world.
Australian netballer Rudi Ellis will compete in NSW finals of Miss Universe this weekend in Manly
Sarah Swain, Manly Daily
RUDI Ellis is swapping the netball court for the catwalk as she prepares to compete in the Miss Universe Australia contest this weekend.
The 19-year-old is in the Australian under-21 netball team, which is vying for a place in the World Youth Cup in Botswana in July.
But on Sunday she will line-up in her ball gown in the NSW finals of the pageant at Manly Pavilion.
Netballer Rudi Ellis is a NSW Finalist in the Miss Universe pageant.
Ms Ellis, of Curl Curl, who is studying communications at UTS, plays goalkeeper and goal defence in the team. She has also played with the NSW Swifts, who play in the Super Netball league.
But it is the first time she has entered the Miss Universe Australia competition, although she said she had done a bit of modelling.
Ms Ellis said she was not quite sure what was expected of her on the night, when she will compete against 24 other young women.
“I entered online, not expecting anything,” she said.
“I thought it would be a really cool experience.
Rudi Ellis will line-up with other contestants on Sunday Picture: Adam Yip
“I have no idea what it’s going to be like.
“I’m definitely a little bit nervous. I think it’s going to be fun.”
Ms Ellis, whose parents Sophie and Jason and brother Fergus live on the peninsula, trains six days a week including at least two gym sessions.
She said while she stuck to healthy salads when she was not training, she ate plenty of carbs on game days.
Contest entrants are aged 18 to 28 and must not have been married.
On the night, they must show off outfits including evening gowns and swimwear and be interviewed on stage.
State winners will go on to represent Australia in Bali, and could land the spot competing against worldwide winners for the title.
Rudi Ellis, Miss Universe finalist, in her NSW Swifts Gear when she played with the team
Beaches model Jennifer Hawkins was crowned Miss Universe in 2004 and her fellow Myer ambassador Rachael Finch was fourth in the event in 2009.
THEY might pray for world peace but these young women are more than just a pretty face.
Tugba Mimi, 25, studied criminology and enjoys clay target shooting.
Cassidy Daniel, 17, is an award winning dancer and horse rider and Laura Younger, 19 is studying nursing and plans to pursue humanitarian work.
All three were finalists at last night’s preliminary showdown for Miss World Victoria.
The event has attracted some of Victoria’s most promising young women who will vie to be crowned Miss World Victoria at the final in June.
Judged by Australian pageant director Deborah Miller and reality celebrities Zana Pali from My Kitchen Rules and Matt Dunne from The Bachelorette, the event featured 40 entrants judged on personality, runway presence and the famous question and answer section.
WAIMEA — Beauty queens and climate change will be sharing the stage at the Waimea Theater on Saturday at the free showing of the documentary “Miss South Pacific: Beauty Queens and the Sea.”
“This film is, in general, very inspirational. It brings to light the ‘day in, and day out’ effects global warming is having on the islands of the South Pacific,”said Sharon Lasker, chair of the Kauai County Committee on the Status of Women.
The committee is hosting Saturday’s soiree, which will include a Q-&-A session with the film’s co-writer and producer, Teresa Tico.
The film follows the 2009-2010 Miss South Pacific Pageant, where contestants known as queens gathered from all the of the major Pacific Island Nationals to compete for a week for the crown of Miss South Pacific.
“The film is especially significant for Kauai’s youth as they will experience the long-term effects of climate change on Hawaii’s fragile ecosystem such as coral bleaching and the reduction of fishing harvests,” said Lasker in a news release.
The focus of the pageant is on climate change, and contestants use the competition as a platform to talk about reducing global carbon emissions.
It’s a documentary that’s meant to empower men and women, as well as show the world the effect climate change has on island nations.
“(Climate change) is creating very real problems for the people of these islands and beyond,” Lasker said.
Jennifer Atkin, pictured now, has slimmed from a size 22 to a slender size 10
The self-confessed “couch potato” was left distraught after her partner walked out, but she decided to overhaul her lifestyle.
Jennifer, an office administrator, has since shed eight stone – now weighing a slender 9st 5lbs – and has got through to the finals of a beauty contest.
Jennifer, who has slimmed from a size 22 to a 10, said: “Although I wish my ex all the best, I do secretly hope he’s kicking himself.
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“The girls have to prove they are talented and charitable and create an outfit made from recycled materials to model on the catwalk but they also have to be inspiring to others.
“We have some amazing contestants who have reached the Sheffield final and I’m looking forward to meeting them all.”
The Miss England final will be held at Resorts World Birmingham on 14 July 2017.
