Pink Ladies crown Little Miss UPIKE
0Following in the heels of Miss UPIKE and Miss UPIKE Mountain Laurel, on Sunday, Nov. 17, the University of Pikeville Pink Ladies crowned its very own Little Miss UPIKE. As a part of its mission to help spread breast cancer awareness across campus and the surrounding community as well as raise money to benefit breast cancer research, the Pink Ladies put together the benefit pageant along with the help of Professor Chandra Massner’s Public Relations class.
The pageant brought girls from surrounding counties and local schools together in categories that ranged from Baby Miss (ages birth-2 years), Wee Miss (ages 3-6), Tiny Miss (ages 7-9), Little Miss (ages 10-12), and Teen (ages 13-17). The day started off with contestants entering in both the Most Photogenic competition as well as Miss Pink Lady, a crown that went to the contestant with the most donations collected from the crowd.
The pageant’s emcee, junior Chase Ellis, kicked off the competition with a quick introduction of Miss UPIKE Hanna McIntosh and Miss UPIKE Mountain Laurel Brittany Rowe, who also serves as President of the Pink Ladies.
“ I thought the pageant was a huge success. I hope the Pink Ladies and Public Relations class continue to work together on special events just like the pageant. It’s truly a blessing to see everyone come together to help support an organization that is very dear to my heart,” Rowe said.
As the contestants were introduced, the crowd was shown appreciation for their many donations made through their participation in the event. The pageant continued with the talent portion that included cheer and dance routines from the Tiny and Little Miss categories as well as a rendition of Rihanna’s Stay by teen contestant, Amanda Mae Arts.
The judges for the day, Takara Norman of Phelps, Ky., and UPIKE alumni Lisa Compton and Director of Residence Life Jocelyn McCown were proud to announce the winners for each category including Baby Miss contestant Paelyn Bevins, who collected more than $100 in audience donations to support breast cancer research and was crowned Miss Pink Lady. Baby Sydney Blackburn was crowned Baby Miss UPIKE while Bevins was also named Most Photogenic Baby Miss. Sierra Pinson received the Wee Miss UPIKE title as well as being named Wee Miss Most Photogenic. Tiny Miss UPIKE is Ivy Layne while Courtney Moore was named Tiny Miss Most Photogenic. Little Miss UPIKE is LaKeisha Deramus, and Miss Teen UPIKE is Amanda Mae Arts.
Overall, organizers deemed the pageant a great success with proceeds of more than $500 collected to benefit Susan G. Komen on a national level and the local efforts of Blessed Beyond Measure.
“I could not be prouder of the efforts of the UPIKE students this semester. The Pink Ladies, with organizational assistance from my public relations students, worked extremely hard this semester on two large special events, and they were successful in significantly increasing the donation that will be made to the charities,” Massner, associate professor of communication and advisor for the UPIKE Pink Ladies, said. “It really shows the heart our students and community has for this worthy cause.”
By: Merisa Ferrell