August 8, 2011

Pageant crowns Miss Gastonia, Gaston County queens for 2012 

Four young women won crowns Sunday afternoon during the annual Miss Gastonia Scholarship Pageant held at Gaston College.

The winners were Miss Gastonia Beth Smith, Miss Gaston County Alexandria Freeman, Miss Gastonia's Outstanding Teen Lindsey Mackey, and Miss Gaston County's Outstanding Teen Bailee Eurey. They will spend the next year making public appearances, participating in community service projects, and preparing to represent the Gaston region in the Miss North Carolina competition.

Smith, 20, is a junior at the University of South Carolina where she is majoring in dance performance and exercise science. She is the daughter of Jayne Tasselli of Charlotte and Ronald Smith of Roanoke, VA. In addition to the Miss Gastonia title, Smith won the community service, swimsuit, and talent awards. She performed a ballet en pointe routine to "Don Quixote" for the talent competition.

Freeman is the 22-year-old daughter of Glenn and Regina Freeman of Gastonia. She is a 2011 graduate of Meredith College in Raleigh where she earned a fashion merchandising and marketing degree. She works as an assistant production stylist for Belk department stores. Freeman sang "On My Own" for the talent competition.

Mackey, 16, is the daughter of Natalie Mackey of Gastonia and a student at Gaston Christian School. She hopes to attend UNC-Wilmington to major in nursing. Mackey also won the Outstanding Teen physical fitness and talent awards. She performed a tap dance to "Miss Otis Regrets" for the talent competition.

Eurey is the 14-year-old daughter of Chad and Ronda Eurey of Cherryville and a sophomore at West Lincoln High School. She would like to attend UNC-Chapel Hill and pursue a career in pediatric dentistry. For the talent competition, Eurey performed a dance to "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Other Miss Gastonia award winners were Malyn Bailey of Kings Mountain, who was named first runner-up, and Victoria Hunter, a Gardner-Webb University sophomore, who was the second runner-up and received the Etha Hawkins Bumgardner congeniality award. Ansley Black of Shelby was the people's choice award winner.

In the Outstanding Teen division, Amy Felix of Seven Lakes was the first runner-up and Cassie Carson of Charlotte was the second runner-up. Shelby Howell of Gastonia won the congeniality and people's choice awards.

The pageant featured 19 contestants competing in interview, talent, swimsuit/fitness, and evening wear categories. Other contestants were Lindsey Alsip, Emma Cassell, Ashley Conner, Julia Karcher, Martina Marler, Taylor Rainwater, Hailey Rotenberry, Ashley Sanders, and Erica Whittaker.

Young women ages 17-24 who live, work, or attend school in Gaston and surrounding counties are eligible to compete for Miss Gastonia/Miss Gaston County. The Outstanding Teen contest is open to N.C. residents, ages 13-16.

The Miss Gastonia Scholarship Association sponsored the pageant. The cash and in-kind scholarships made available to the contestants totaled more than $43,000. Belmont Abbey College, Cleveland Community College, Carolina Academy-Paul Mitchell School, Gardner-Webb University, and Gaston College provided in-kind scholarships.


MEDIA LINKS

Lenn Long Photography
www.pageantpics.com

The Gaston Gazette
http://www.gastongazette.com/news/gastonia-59792-miss-college.html

http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/miss-59685-gastonia-contestants.html

The Shelby Star
http://www.shelbystar.com/articles/bailey-57451-pageant-miss.html

http://www.shelbystar.com/news/four-57222-cleveland-county.html