By Angela Huston / Photos by Russ Huston
Published: Thursday, August 11, 2011 1:43 PM EDT
To view article click here
2012 Miss North Coast Jessica Nelson and her mother
Forty years and still going strong---
The 2012 Miss North Coast Pageant, a preliminary to Miss Ohio/Miss America, was held August 6, in the James Hayas Performing Arts Center at Brunswick High School. The exciting competition featured 12 hopeful young women whose sights were set on moving to the next levels of the prestigious pageant.
The five areas of competition covered in the lengthy day focused on each contestant's performance in: a private interview before a panel of judges (25 percent), then, before a live audience, response to an on-stage question (five percent), appearance in the lifestyle/fitness/swimsuit category (15 percent), level and mastery of skill in her chosen talent (35 percent), and sense of confidence and stage presence in evening wear (20 percent).
The evening portion of the competition opened with the singing of the National Anthem, followed by the introduction of Master of Ceremonies Scott Boyer. Boyer introduced the contestants and Mistress Of Ceremonies for the evening, Chelsi Howman, Miss North Coast 2011 and Americanism Essay Award Winner.
The contenders, ages 18 to 23, represented several Ohio cities and colleges: Chrissy Porter, Canfield, Saint Mary's College; Allison Elisabeth Vance, Mount Gilead, Ohio State; Ashleigh Jarzenski, Canal Fulton, Ashland University; Loren Baker, Toledo, University of Toledo; Alicia Huyghe, Cleveland, Cleveland State; Mahogany Fleming, Cincinnati, University of Toledo; Jessica Nelson, Toledo, University of Toledo; Heather Renee Isbell, Port Clinton, New York Institute of Photography; Haripriya (Priya) Sharma, Cleveland, Cleveland State; Haley Marie Sims, Parma, University of Cincinnati; Amber Galloway, Brunswick, University of Akron; and Kayla Bayless, Niles, University of Akron.
Throughout the evening The Cleveland Dance Ensemble performed, along with solo performances by Secily Keisel and Howman, and banjo duets by Howman and her father. Boyer introduced special guests, many of whom were crown wearers representing other competitions, and the parents of the contestants. However, the evening of entertainment, excitement and some tension finally came to its climax with the announcement of this year's winners.
Mahogany Fleming won the swimsuit category, and Kayla Bayless the talent category. The five finalists, in no particular order, were: Fleming, Alicia Huyghe, Chrissy Porter, Priya Sharma and Jessica Nelson. Sharma was the first runner-up, and Howman crowned Jessica Nelson the 2012 Miss North Coast.
Members of the judges' panel were: Head Judge Smith Runyon, Dr. Angela Thomas (1991 Miss North Coast), Shaun Kanary (husband of 1998 Miss North Coast), Lynn Koch, and Angela Huston. Auditors were Tim Szmudz and Dolly Ruffing.
Jan and Don Moll, who have been closely associated all these years with the pageant, share the titles of Director/Producer and Judges Chairperson. Daryl Moll is the show's Technical Producer, Nancy Keinath the Contestant Coordinator, Rhonda Darling and Rachael Anderson Backstage Assistants, Barbara Clark Ticket Sales, and Anne and Ken Hablitzel the 50/50 raffle.
Jan Moll extended special thanks to Wiant Jewelers for sponsoring the crown, to Applebee's for providing dinner, Pearl Hospitality for assisting with lodging for judges, staff and contestants, and Brunswick City School District for the use of the Performing Arts Center and additional assistance from the staff.
