Waddington woman wants to bring back pageants

By AMANDA PURCELL
JOHNSON NEWSPAPER

SUNDAY, JULY 15, 2012

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WADDINGTON — A Waddington native hopes to bring beauty pageants back to the north country.

Lyndsay E. Allen said she participated in pageants when she was younger and hopes to offer that opportunity to young girls in the north country. Ms. Allen said her own two daughters, 7 and 8, have shown an interest in pageants.

“I feel that it was a wonderful experience,” Ms. Allen said. “It builds self-esteem, whether you win or not. It is fun to get away for the day, hang out with friends and learn a dance number or pageant walk.”

It has been three years since the north country’s last pageant owing to the death of former pageant Director Edward Ackerman.

Ms. Allen said she will be directing a pageant through Gillespie Pageants. The competition will be open to girls ages 13 to 19 and begin at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 at Madrid-Waddington Central School.

Contestants will begin the day with a check-in between 9 and 9:30 a.m. They will learn a dance routine to be performed at the pageant. Competitors will be interviewed by judges and will give a one-minute speech. The top five will have to answer questions from the judges. The event also will feature a bathing suit and an evening gown competition.

The winner will be named Miss Northern New York Teenager and go on to compete in the statewide competition in September at Lake George. The winner of the state pageant will have an opportunity to have lunch with a state Assembly member and a senator and tour the Capitol buildings in Albany, Ms. Allen said.

Ms. Allen and her 8-year-old daughter, Abryanna I. Browning, are both pageant winners. The pair recently won the title of Most Beautiful Mother-Daughter at the Lake George pageant and the title of Miss New York World of Beauty in May.

Registration for the pageant is $60. For more information or to register, contact Ms. Allen at 388-4102 or P.O. Box 602, Waddington, N.Y. 13694.