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Teens excited to win pageant titles
Published November 16, 2009
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is altered from its original form to correct the name of Miss Lake Jackson throughout.
LAKE JACKSON — The shocked “O” was seen on two Brazoria County teens’ faces as they realized they’d won the coveted titles of Miss Lake Jackson and Miss Lake Jackson Teen Sunday night, and the two are ready to use their titles to make a difference in the world.
Stacey Nell Cutler, 18, was crowned Miss Lake Jackson from among nine contestants and will attend the University of Texas at Austin in the spring, she said.
Brazoswood High School student Jenna Dulaveris, 15, won the Miss Lake Jackson Teen crown from among 12 contestants in the competition at the Lake Jackson Civic Center.
“I’m in complete shock,” Cutler said with a smile. “I felt blessed to win because I spent an amazing time with such wonderful girls and I wasn’t expecting to win at all because everybody was so qualified.”
This was the second year the Brazoria resident competed in the Festival of Lights Pageant, and she’s glad she did.
“I don’t think there are very many truly positive influences in the world and I’d like to be at least a positive influence to this community,” Cutler said.
As she prepares to begin college, Cutler wants one day to be a nurse anesthetist, she said.
“There’s something so intriguing to me about how intelligent and how professional nurse anesthetists are,” she said. “You not only get to help people, but you get to learn every day something new.”
For Dulaveris, her first time to compete in a pageant turned out well, she said.
“I did not think I was going to win,” she said. “I was standing there and I was like ‘Oh. My. Gosh.’ I couldn’t breathe.”
After helping with the Little Miss Festival of Lights Pageant, Dulaveris plans to continue working with various charities in the community, she said.
Dulaveris hopes to be a plastic surgeon, and make a difference in people’s lives.
“I want to make them feel beautiful inside and out,” she said.
The winners each get the opportunity to participate on a state level should they decide to and they each continue throughout the year to help with various fundraisers and charity events, pageant director Kathy White said.
Judges for each contest evaluated the contestants in casual wear, evening gown and on-stage interview. Last week, four judges met with each contestant for four minutes in the personal interview portion of the competition and those scores were combined with Sunday’s scores, White said.
“These girls were awesome and from the very beginning, everybody who was working with the pageant helping out was just in awe and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, how do you pick from these girls?’” White said. “My two winners, I just could not be more pleased. They are just the sweetest girls, their families are so sweet, they’re smart, articulate and they’re everything we could hope for in a Miss Lake Jackson and Miss Lake Jackson Teen.”
Natalie Woolsey Memorial Award for Personality recipient Sherry Lin, 19, is a Rice University student majoring in kinesiology and health policy in hopes of becoming a hospital administrator, she said.
The award was created five years ago when Natalie Woolsey, the reigning Miss Festival of Lights, was killed in a car accident.
For Lin, the award is extra special, because the year Woolsey was crowned, Lin was the first-runner up and the following year, Lin herself was crowned.
“You always hear about Miss Congeniality, but it’s really, really special to me because Natalie was really my mentor,” Lin said.
White said she couldn’t think of a better person to receive the Woolsey award.
“I was very, very honored to see it go to somebody that I know it means as much to that person as it does to me,” White said.
Erin McKeon is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0152.
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