Best of Luck to the Miss Maple City Pageant Tomorrow!

Tomorrow night in Norwalk the second half of the Miss Ohio local season will begin with Miss Maple City! In the fall there was a contestant drought, but the ladies have returned in force! Most of the contestants bring pageant experience; at least 5 of the 17 own crowns (from various pageant systems) and I hope all the former Miss Northwestern Ohio contestants and BGSU students carpool! The pageant begins at 7 p.m. at Ernsthausen Performing Arts Center at Norwalk High School.

The outgoing Miss Maple City is a fellow blogger, Heather Wells. Heather is a jazz dancer and student at Youngstown State University. On the right, Heather poses with former Miss Ohio and CNN news anchor Robin Meade at an appearance. Already this year she captured the community title Miss Trumble County Fair Queen and she was First Runner-up at Miss MV/AAC/ FT. Heather will no doubt be back on the Miss Ohio stage in the future, but tomorrow night she'll be passing her first local title to one of these women:

Danielle Bash, 21, is a harpist who studies Music Education at Bowling Green State University (Go Falcons!). Appropriately, her platform is "advocating the arts in public schools." 'Dani' was the First Runner-up at Miss Northwestern Ohio in 2007.

Shannon Bash is a vocalist who attends Youngstown State University. This 19 year old's platform is "the importance of being involved in extra-curricular activities during high school." She competed in Miss Northwestern Ohio in the fall and yes, she and Danielle are sisters.

Marisa Buchheit, 19, is a Chicago native who studies Vocal Performance at the Cleveland Instituted of Music/Case Western. She advocates a holistic approach to student health. Marisa was a contestant at this pageant last year, but ultimately made it to Miss Illinois, winning a non-finalist talent award as Miss West Cook County. She has also been a finalist at Miss Illinois Teen USA and Illinois Junior Miss.

Krystle Formosa competed at Miss Ohio last year as Miss South Central Ohio. She is a vocalist who studies Fashion Merchandising at Kent State University. This 22 year old's platform is "serving children for a better tomorrow."

Adriana Grayson is an 18 year old student at Tree of Life Christian High School. She is a vocalist who advocates awareness of the teen pregnancy crisis. I believe Adriana has been a teen titleholder in the Cinderella pageant system.

Hollie Hongosh, 20, is a vocalist who attends Wittenberg University where she studies International Relations and French. Her platform is "bringing the world home."

Jacquelin Jerlecki is a Musical Theatre student at Bowling Green State University (Go Falcons!). This 20 year old is a vocalist who promotes arts in schools. 'Jackie' narrowly missed competing at Miss Ohio last year, placing First Runner-up at Miss Central and the first Sweeps pageant.

Ashleigh Lemon is a graduate of Muskingum College where she studied Conservation and Biology; thus, her platform is "conservation for the next generation: the race against time." This 23 year old will sing. She held the community title Miss Southeastern Ohio 2007 and has competed at Miss Ohio International and a Miss Ohio local this fall.

Ashley Miller, 18, is a vocalist and student at the University of Rio Grande (if you didn't learn from Rachel Maris, U of RG is in Ohio). She advocates a drug prevention platform. Ashley was Miss Ohio's Outstanding Teen last year.

Courtney Monk is a vocalist attending Anderson University. This 18 year old's platform is fine arts education. In November she was named First Runner-up at Miss Northwestern Ohio.

Jessica Nelson, 19, is a Pre-Veterinary/Biology student at the University of Toledo. Appropriately, she advocates "the ABC's of owning a pet." 'Jess' is a vocalist who is in her second season of MAO competition.

Emily Pheils is a Marketing and Popular Culture student at Bowling Green State University (Go Falcons!). Her platform is the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and this 19 year old will sing. Emily is active in National American Miss pageants and Miss America locals.

Stephanie Rodgers was an Economics and International Studies student at Ohio University. She is a 22 year old vocalist; her platform is child abuse prevention.

Laura Sojka, 23, is a graduate of Ohio State University. She is a vocalist who promotes pet adoption.

Joy Thompson is a Norwalk native and student at Monreoville High School; she is 18 years old. Her talent will be baton twirling and she advocates teaching sign language for young children.

Alyssa Waldman is a vocalist who attends Defiance High School. This 18 year old's platform is "Encouraging healthy self-esteem among women of all ages." At Miss Northwestern Ohio this fall she was Second Runner-up and Talent winner.

Ashley Warholic, 20, is a Public Relations and Marketing student at Baldwin-Wallace. Her platform is "Focus on Family, Career, Community Leaders of America" and she performs jazz ballet en pointe. As a Mansfield native, she grew up with the Miss Ohio program and has placed consistently in locals for the past two pageant seasons.

The photos and information above is from the Norwalk Reflector and Facebook; please leave comments or email me with corrections. Check out the newspaper link, under the article the locals have created quite a dialogue about pageantry! Also, if you attend, please text me with results!