Pageant Winners Crowned Saturday Night

It was a night of glamour, talent, modeling and entertainment at the Miss Clawson and Jr. Miss Clawson Pageant on Saturday night. The winners: Ashley Thornton for Miss Clawson and Natasha Hampshire for Jr. Miss Clawson.

While each contestant shined in a different way on the Performing Arts Center stage, pageant directors say stage presence was only a small part of what the girls gained from the pageants.

"One of our missions is to teach young women skills for later on in their life such as interviewing skills, leadership skills, public speaking skills," Director Linda Gould said. "We promote teamwork and bring a value to their life."

There were five girls in the Jr. Miss Clawson pageant and two girls in the Miss Clawson Pageant.

The runners-up were Stacey Gomoll (first), Diana Davis (second), Shelby DuFresne (third), Emily Jacobs (fourth) for Jr. Miss Clawson and Melissa Engel (first) for Miss Clawson.

This was the first year they combined the two pageants, Gould said.

For the crowning, the girls were judged on the casual wear competition, formal wear competition, final question and personal interview held earlier on Saturday. They also performed in special competitions for Best Actress and Best Talent. Other special awards included Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, Most Promising Model, Best Author and several others.  

Former Miss Clawson winners were also present at the pageant including Miss Clawson 2009 Caitlin Downs and Jr. Miss Clawson 2010 Elizabeth Kurkowski who took their farewell walk at the pageant; Young Miss Clawson 2011 Alexis Stuart, Miss Princess 2011 Saveah Peters and Jr. Miss Clawson 2009 Lissa Mann who hosted the program.